The humble and reliable Toyota Yaris is now the sixth model from the Japanese brand to surpass 10 million units delivered.
This amazing sales number is its total global sales over its 25 years of production. For Malaysians, the Yaris has been a dependable compact hatchback that has been very popular with Myvi owners looking for an upgrade.
However, the Yaris is part of a family of vehicles that has not been introduced in the Malaysian market. And this Toyota Yaris Cross is one of them.
Marketed in Europe as a compact SUV, benefiting from Toyota’s experience in originating the concept of the recreational SUV 26 years ago with the RAV4 and today the world’s best-selling SUV and more recently in producing the stylish and highly efficient C-HR.
A raised ride height and the availability of AWD-i intelligent all-wheel drive reinforce its authentic SUV credentials.
Meanwhile, on 30 March 2023, the Toyota Yaris, after being a segment leader for many years, instantly made a splash in the hatchback world since its inception in 1998 when it was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show as well as the first-generation model being named European Car of the Year in 2000.
Speaking of Europe, of the many Toyota Yaris units sold globally, about 5,155,506 of them were sold in Europe and the hatchback accounts for one-third of the Japanese brand’s total sales in Europe in 2022. Despite the Toyota Yaris not being as common as its sedan sibling, the Vios, here in Malaysia, it is still very popular globally.
Plus, the Toyota Yaris surpassing 10 million models is well deserved as the car has improved tremendously over the years as even though it was already a great car in its first generation which sold until 2005, when the second generation car was launched, it improved in every metric.
On top of that, in 2006, a more performance oriented model called the Toyota Yaris TS was introduced with a 1.8 litre engine making 130hp and now we even have the Toyota GR (Gazoo Racing) Yaris proving, once again, that the demand for this hot hatch is still widely available even after 25 years.
The Toyota GR Yaris was first introduced when the car was in its third generation and now the car has even spawned a crossover version, similar to the Corolla Cross model, in Europe which was recently named the 2022 World Urban Car in the World Car Awards, sadly, there is no official word of this crossover entering Malaysia for now.
Well, what else is there to say now, other than, congratulations Toyota on hitting yet another milestone and achieving even more success and I am sure that the brand will not be slowing down anytime soon as well, especially after the recent launch of the all-new Toyota Vios which had the public very excited.
