Toyota Yaris In Depth

Press Release

Page 1: Marketing and Positioning
Page 2: Design and Perveived Quality
Page 3: Package and Interior Comfort
Page 4: Safety
Page 5: Body and Chassis
Page 6: Powertrains
Page 7: Cost of Ownership and Protection

Design and perceived quality

Advanced and sophisticated

• Toyota promotes worldwide competition for the design of new Yaris

• A concept from the European design studio Toyota ED2 was chosen

• Designed under Toyota’s latest design philosophy, ‘Vibrant Clarity’

• Interior design brings form and function together under the same package

• A high level of perceived quality

Fruit of a worldwide competition

• A contest between 3 design studios

• Final choice based on ED2 proposal

• In line with Toyota’s design philosophy – ‘Vibrant Clarity’

Before bringing the new Yaris to life, Toyota had given its designers a very clear brief, based on four principles. The new Yaris had to evoke the current model, which is what we call ‘Yarisness’; it should have a strong and distinctive presence in order to differentiate it from other cars; refinement and sophistication should be present throughout the car; and, finally, the new Yaris should look dynamic, inspiring movement and relentless action.

Toyota promoted a worldwide competition joined by three design studios: ED2 (Toyota’s design studio in Europe), Toyota Motor Corporation’s design studio (at the company’s headquarters, in Japan) and Technoart, Inc., an affiliated design studio located in Nagoya, Japan.

ED2’s proposal was found to be the closest to the initial brief. The European design concept was further developed in Japan, combining engineering and production requirements.

Initial design sketches

The new Yaris, together with the most recent creations from Toyota, has been developed according to the brand’s current design philosophy – ‘Vibrant Clarity’. It combines two different principles: one stands for dynamism and energy, while the other calls for more rational values like simplicity and logic. By doing this, Toyota intends to bring form and function together within the same package.

‘Vibrant Clarity’ is expressed through four different elements, to be found throughout the car: Proportion, Architecture, Surface and a final Special touch.

Exterior design

• Monoform shape provides sense of proportion

• Dynamic feel brought by arched belt line

• Depth and strength achieved through special surfaces

The new Yaris’ proportion is dominated by a dynamic ‘monoform’ shape that extends from the bonnet to the cabin. This is further complemented by the arched belt line, providing a sense of forward movement. A solid stance is created by wheels located at the extreme corners of the body.

In terms of architecture, the integrated bumper shape and vertical lines extending from the bottom of the windshield – a feature already visible in other Toyota models, like Avensis - give the new Yaris a strong face. When seen from a rear 3?4 angle, a powerful stance is created by the curved belt line, which expands to the rear hatch glass and culminates in the Toyota badge.

The combination of convex and concave surfaces with sharp lines creates a virtual feeling of depth and strength beyond its physical dimensions, perfectly fulfilling the surface brief for the new Yaris.

Several features, like the bulge on the bonnet encircling the Toyota badge and a special honing treatment applied to the headlights’ inner lens (used to achieve a particularly shiny look) make up the special touch element.

Interior design and perceived quality

• Dominating centre console

• ‘Loop style concept’ provides a spaciousness feel

• Several measures to improve perceived quality

The cabin of the new Yaris is filled with elements that provide an emotional appearance but also have a rational and functional purpose in mind.

The vertically aligned centre console, culminating in the upper instrument cluster, provides a sense of proportion, simultaneously providing a special touch to the dashboard. However, its vertical configuration provides additional space for the side pockets and additional legroom for passengers.

The architecture of the cabin is brought to life by the adoption of light colours around the door armrest, pillars and headliner, named by the design team as ‘loop style concept’. This provides an additional feel of spaciousness. An effort was made to provide a feel of visual and tactile consistency around this area.

Loop style concept

The upper dashboard is dominated by clean surfaces and solid shapes, further reinforced by a flush component fitting (in some cases 30% better than in the current model), that hide the two upper gloveboxes (driver and passenger) and the passenger airbag cover. This area also features a new geometric grain pattern.

Another special touch is brought by the rear seat. Its design gathers a group of functionalities that are unique in the segment. Besides sliding and reclining independently for each side (on a 60/40 split), the Toyota Easy Flat (to be further explained in a next chapter) allows the user to easily fold down the seat, delivering a fully flat cargo floor.

Other refinements have been introduced in order to confer a class-leading quality feel. Both upper glovebox lids and all assist grips are damped and there is a full colour and illumination co-ordination on the centre console. The centre air registers also adopt fin-type shutters.

The cabin of the new Yaris also presents significantly lower levels of noise and vibration than the outgoing model. This has been achieved thanks to the application of several measures like, for instance, the adoption of double sealing for all side doors.

The final touch is given by a very important detail – the door closing sound – decisive from the very first contact with the new Yaris. The entire door structure was reinforced so that it doesn’t resonate when closing and improved locks were adopted. The result is a door closing sound that can compare with upper-segment cars.