The Current Toyota Yaris Hatchback is Officially Dead in the U.S.

Back in November, we predicted that the five-door Toyota Yaris would probably be killed off soon. A few days later, Toyota gave some strong hints that it planned to do exactly that. Now it’s official. As Toyota confirmed to CarsDirect, the Toyota Yaris Liftback is dead in the U.S.

Interestingly, Toyota also told CarsDirect that it plans to make some sort of announcement at the New York auto show in April. What that means for the future of the Yaris isn’t clear. Theoretically, Toyota could be prepping to introduce a redesigned and much more competitive hatchback, but we wouldn’t be surprised to hear Toyota say it only plans to build subcompact sedans going forward. Heck, for all we know, the Yaris could become some sort of baby crossover.

 

Starting at $16,565 including destination, the Yaris hatchback was one of the least expensive models in the lineup. Now that it’s been canceled, it leaves Toyota consumers on a budget with limited options. The Mazda-based Yaris sedan still exists and is actually a few hundred dollars less expensive, but it doesn’t offer the practicality of a hatch. Upgrading to the Corolla Hatchback, on the other hand, requires spending at least $20,920. Meanwhile, the Prius C starts at $22,460, and the C-HR starts at $21,875.

Then again, we’re not sure many buyers will miss the Yaris hatchback. Toyota only sold 1,940 units in the U.S. last year, almost 78 percent fewer than it sold in 2017. For comparison, even though Yaris sedan sales were down a little more than 29 percent in 2018, Toyota still managed to sell 25,269 of them.

Source: CarsDirect

 

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