Toyota Europe: We will export Yaris Hybrid to USA in 2013

huh?​

 

Ain't nothin' better than a 2-door ultra-modified Japanese-French-American hybrid Yaris! Can't wait....

 

If that is the hybrid Yaris, what is the difference between it and the Prius c?

 

Two doors vs. four?

 

The big difference 2 me is that a Yaris is available in a 2-door model and it has a wheel base a couple inches shorter than the Prius C... Many of us don't need 4-doors! Also I think the Yaris has a much smaller, cleaner and less bulky look...

And yes Yaris and Prius share many of the same parts, but there are some nice differences, especially if you want to do lotsa mods... Have a look at both 2012 models below:

 

yeah i just don't understand how we are going to have a prius c and a yaris hybrid on the market at the same time. my understanding was that the two were intentionally separated, and that markets which were getting the yaris hybrid weren't getting the c and vice versa.

i don't buy the two-door argument, the two-door RAV4 was sold in Europe through 2007, but was killed in the US 7 years earlier. same thing goes for mods – the gasoline Yaris in Europe has a ton of mods too compared to the US model. It also costs a good $10k more, so that's not really surprising.

 

to be honest what i suspect and what is probably closer to the truth is that they will build the prius c there and ship it to the us instead of doing it in japan like they are now.

 

Its likely that with 78 yen to the dollar they are losing money on every yaris and prius c sold in america. They don't want to lose market share. They may make money or lose less with these yaris and yaris hybrids made in europe. My guess is the yaris hybrid loses money over there too, but if they sell some in america they may lose less. Toyota does not break out financials by car, but they are losing money on cars made in japan and sold in america. Toyota is hoping to reverse car manufacturing losses in europe and become profitable this year, and this may be part of that.

This does nothing good for Americans, its just a way for toyota to shift manufacturing out of high cost japan to somewhere not in the US. I can't say I really care about where the yaris is manufactured, but toyota needs to build the prii here, where they are sold and costs are lower. Maybe if we slapped a big tarrif on them like europe they would actually do that.

 

It appears to me that the minor differences in styling will just confuse customers and probably dealers. Reminds me of the badge engineering that used to go between Corporations' brands. The Yaris and c are a little more different, so not as bad, but this won't do much to expand hybrid sales. Saving funds exchange rates seems to be the only reason. Otherwise I think we would have had heard about this earlier.

I agree not everyone needs four doors. Specially in cars aimed at the the just starting out young and single. For the fuel conscious, two door models tend to be lighter in weight. This assumes we will get a two door hybrid Yaris. The US didn't get an Echo hatchback until the Scion xA.

With the sedan preference here, a hybrid Yaris sedan might grab some more sales for Toyota. It doesn't appear to exist unfortunately.

 

This is what toyota was saying back in June
France-Sourced Toyota Yaris US-Bound in 2013 | Hybrid Cars

The new announcement that toyota changed on the yaris hybrid was vague as what they will be shipping over. It will at least be different from the euro version per rear bumper and fuel tank. I have no idea if its 4dr, 2dr, pricing. I can't imagine the the yaris hybrid will do anything but the cannibalization of sales from the prius c, but that likely is toyota's intention. Or maybe they are just mad at the CR low rating.

 

Exporting the hybrid Yaris is new. The June announcement stated that the hybrid and diesel versions won't be shipped over.

 

yeah I'm sorry but this is just dumb

 

Yes they changed there mind since June. I guess that was unclear in my post. They haven't detailed what pricing/options/availability in the US is though. That is what I meant by vague. I have no idea if its 2 door or 4 door.