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Toyota GR Yaris now everlasting fixture in line-up

Toyota says that the sudden success of the GR Yaris has led it to make the new hatchback a everlasting fixture in its line-up.

Speaking at an occasion the place we drove a prototype of the new facelifted GR Yaris, its chief engineer Naohiko Saito mentioned: “This is not the top of improvement.” 

The GR Yaris ‘Evo’ has gained upgrades to its high-performance sturdiness, extra energy, a stiffer physique, revised suspension and the choice of an eight-speed computerized gearbox alongside the six-speed handbook. 

Toyota has offered greater than 32,000 GR Yarises – way over it anticipated. It wanted to make 25,000 automobiles with the distinctive three-door bodyshell (the common Yaris is five-door solely) to homologate the form for its World Rally Championship competitor.

Toyota was so unsure that the GR Yaris would hit the goal that it additionally created a less expensive variant for Japan known as the RS, that includes the regular Yaris’s 1.5-litre hybrid powertrain and not one of the GR’s specialist {hardware}.

It has offered greater than 3000 however in the end hasn’t wanted the RS to make up the numbers.

Toyota has additionally been bowled over by the wealth of the consumers who’re shopping for GR Yarises. “This is something we’ve never seen before,” Saito mentioned. 

White Toyota GR Yaris driving on very wet track

Some 48% of GR Yarises are purchased as ‘additional cars’ to a buyer’s storage, whereas the category common for hot hatches tends to be round 10%, with the overwhelming majority purchased because the proprietor’s solely automobile.

The GR Yaris is now monitoring “100% above plan”, in keeping with Saito, therefore the facelift could possibly be justified – though he stresses that neither the facelift nor the venture within the first place would have been attainable and not using a automotive fanatic like Akio Toyoda (who stepped down as president and CEO to become chairman last year) on the head of the corporate.

Motorsport

Future Nissans Will Have A Very Different Face

Every car company has its own unique design language. For Nissan, the V-Motion grille has been a fixture in the US for more than a decade. The first iteration dates back to the original Juke from 2010, which had a small V-Motion grille. In 2015, that design evolved into a more prominent version 2.0 that debuted on the Vmotion 2.0 concept (pictured here), and later in production form on the Maxima.

However, as Nissan shifts towards an electrified future – which means less reliance on grilles – the V-Motion motif will likely not be a part of the company’s future plans. According to Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan’s Vice President for Global Design, the design team isn’t focused on V-Motion anymore.

Nissan Vmotion 2.0 Concept

“There’s a little bit left, but no, we’re not using these motifs so literally,” said Albaisa. “I think if we have one success is that nobody asks for [V-Motion] anymore inside the company. Or if they do ask, the other executives don’t follow. So one person can say, ‘What about V-Motion?’ And if the room is silent, that means it’s a minority voice and you keep going.”

Some of Nissan’s gas cars still prominently feature the V-Motion design, but on recently updated models like the Versa and Rogue, the former silver “V” accent is no longer present. The newer widened V shape on the front fascia of these models is similar to what debuted on the Ariya.

Nissan’s overall design direction is shifting as electrification becomes a priority. Albaisa and his team are striving to make these vehicles more efficient, while still prioritizing style in vehicle design.

Nissan Vmotion 2.0 Concept

“We used to be able to put the nose wherever we want. All of the cars you see today, the nose is moving up a bit because we’re taking air under the nose,” Albaisa says. “I think that those first EVs have a tendency to be a bit jellybean-ish… and already people are pushing back.”

“Because we have like 13 or 14 [EVs] that we’re making, some are a bit smoother – they’re also cool – but you see the friction between the language. I don’t think people are patient, they want something new.”