Yaris Sedan Launched in UAE

October 7, 2013

Yaris gets booted in a whole new suit
By Imthishan Giado

Nearly two years after the launch of the hatch, the humble Yaris finally gets a saloon version. Competing with the likes of the Indian-made Sunny and Korean Kia Picanto, Yaris Sedan (as it’s officially known) looks almost nothing like the hatchback, instead opting to resemble a shrunken version of the new Corolla and edgy new Camry, with lots of busy character lines and hawk-like details on the head and taillights.

Compared to the hatch, the sedan is 110mm longer and 10mm wider, which means better interior space for passengers front and rear, as well as a slight increase in cargo capacity. Where the hatchback had a strange group of intersecting ovals comprising the interior, the sedan goes for a more traditional cascading dash setup with the radio set up high and the HVAC low, bisected by a character line that runs through the centre console.

Don’t be fooled by the stylish new suit because under the skin there’s the same old bones with carryover 84bhp 1.3-litre and 107bhp 1.5-litre engines hooked up to a frankly archaic four-speed auto, sub-par in a segment highly biased towards fuel economy and more ratios. New for the sedan is electric power steering – which we liked in the hatch, and expect to be good in this car as well.

Equipment? Don’t expect much in the rental-ready base 1.3S which comes with fabric seats, floor mats (yay!), manual A/C, wind-em-up windows and steel wheels. The SE car gets central locking, seat adjustment for the driver, power windows, four speakers for the stereo, keyless entry, powered door mirrors and intermittent wipers. Move up to the more muscular (in the loosest possible definition of the word) 1.5 and the base SE is identical to the 1.3SE, but opt for the Sport and you’ll get a leather steering wheel, a ‘Sport’ tachometer, a multi information display, folding mirrors, steering wheel controls for the audio system, fog lamp, 15-inch alloy wheels and spoilers front and rear. SE+ add folding rear seats, climate control, push button start and keyless access, six speakers for the stereo and projector headlamps.

Yaris Sedan is now on sale at Al Futtaim locations across the UAE.

Prices
1.3 S AED48,500
1.3 SE AED51,900
1.5 SE AED53,500
1.5 SE+ AED57,900
1.5 Sport AED56,900