Toyota Yaris marks 10 million sales milestone

TOYOTA has this week celebrated another sales record with its Yaris light car family celebrating its 10 millionth production milestone.

The Yaris has gone on to join Toyota nameplates including the Camry, Corolla, HiLux, LandCruiser and RAV4 in notching up an eight-digit sales figure, Toyota proudly stating that some 361,982 Yaris examples have been sold in Australia alone – including 81,983 in the first generation alone (the Yaris was sold as the Echo in Australia from 1999 to 2006).

The Japanese importer says the reason behind the Yaris’ success is that the model has “consistently been a pioneer, introducing new technologies and concepts to the compact car market”, and that its “spirit of innovation has helped maintain its status as one of Toyota’s consistently popular models”.

Toyota Australia says that from launch, the first-generation Yaris was the only vehicle in its class to offer front-centre airbags and a driver assistance system designed to protect and automatically brake to help avoid pedestrians and vehicles at intersections (AEB).

Locally – and in addition to the sell-out success of the fire-breathing GR Yaris – the fourth generation of Toyota’s light car takes kudos as Australia’s most fuel-efficient vehicle, with the hybridised model offering an official combined cycle fuel consumption figure of just 3.3 litres per 100km.

The nameplate has also grown to include the high-riding Yaris Cross SUV, which arrived Down Under in 2020. The model has sold 19,184 examples in just over two years.

Available locally from $24,640 plus on-road costs, the Yaris is a true global car produced in countries including Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand.

Despite its historic popularity, year-to-date sales figures show the Yaris has begun to slip from its position as one of this country’s best-selling light cars.

Vfacts data shows sales to the end of April of just 634 units, placing it well behind the segment leading MG 3 with 5538 YTD sales. The Light passenger car under $30K segment is rounded out by the second-place Suzuki Swift (1945), Mazda 2 (1889), Kia Rio (1884), Hyundai i20 (219), Suzuki Baleno (182), Ford Fiesta (116, and no longer available), and Volkswagen Polo (77).

Meanwhile, the Yaris Cross – which competes in the expanding SUV Light category – has amassed 1913 unit sales to the end of April, placing it fourth in the segment behind the Mazda CX-3 (5325 unit sales), Kia Stonic (2159) and Hyundai Venue (2084). The top five is rounded out by the Volkswagen T-Cross with 1904 YTD unit sales.