The cheapest way into the Toyota lineup for 2021 will now be the $20,780 Corolla sedan—an increase of $4,175.
Say goodbye to the Toyota Yaris. The Japanese brand’s smallest car offering will disappear from the lineup for 2021. This is according to CarBuzz, which first reported the news via a leaked internal document before Toyota itself confirmed. The move will see the Corolla become the most affordable new Toyota on most dealer lots. That’s a big jump though: the 2020 Yaris sedan starts at just $16,605 (including destination), versus the minimum $20,780 a Corolla sedan goes for. In fact, the Yaris was one of the 10 cheapest new cars you could buy in the US this year.
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The Yaris can trace its roots back to the Echo sedan, which debuted in 2000. Toyota tested the waters with an Echo hatchback in Canada for the final year of that generation, before the second-generation model adopted the Yaris name (and the hatch shape) in all of North America. We reached out to Toyota Canada about the Yaris’ future there. “We continue to sell the Yaris Hatchback in Quebec this year,” said company PR manager Romaric Lartilleux, “and our plans for the year 2021 will be announced at a later date.”
In addition, a Toyota rep told Car and Driver “the entry-subcompact segment has new regulations that require additional homologation. Those regulations, coupled with declining sales in the segment, are some of the reasons behind the decision.”
It’s no secret that small car sales have taken a beating in both countries over the last decade. US Yaris sales peaked in 2008 at 102,328, but the total for 2019 was barely over a fifth of that number. To put that in another perspective, on average Toyota sold more Corollas each month than an entire year’s worth of Yaris.
Technically speaking, the current Yaris isn’t even a Toyota: it’s a Mazda. The sedan has been a rebadged Mazda2 since it debuted as the Scion iA in 2015. When Toyota’s youth-oriented brand was put out to pasture, the iA became the Yaris sedan. Toyota’s homegrown Yaris remained as the hatchback until this model year, when it too adopted the Mazda platform. It’s a different story globally however: Toyota introduced a fourth-generation Yaris late 2019. A bespoke three-door version forms the basis of a rally homologation special too, in the 257-horsepower Yaris GR.
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While the Yaris GR isn’t destined for these shores, Toyota has been dropping hints left and right that its drivetrain will. The powerful three-cylinder turbo and all-wheel drive system are expected to find their way under the Corolla, and possibly the C-HR.
With the Yaris dead, the sub-compact car class still includes models like the Honda Fit, Kia Rio, and Hyundai Accent. There’s also the Versa, which Nissan treated to a full makeover for 2020.
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