Toyota should make this a reality.
We’ve said this before, and we’ll repeat it again – Toyota has changed how we view the Yaris. Even more with the new GR Yaris hot-hatchback launched at the Tokyo Auto Salon. Thanks to a new recipe, the once-simple city cruiser has become a small and fast car.
The GR Yaris looks amazing with a sheet metal top, but X–Tomi Design has created a convertible version. What are our thoughts? It’s a wonderful car, and we love it. But don’t let your hopes get too high.
This is a rendering. We think it’s more likely to stay as fiction than make it into production. When removing the roof from a car’s roof, there are many factors to consider. This is especially true if the vehicle is a pocket rocket producing 257 horsepower (192 KiloWatts) or 360 Newton-meters (266 pounds-feet). Safety, structural integrity and cost of production are just a few things to think about.
Although the odds of this imagined GR Yaris ever seeing the light of the day are slim, we cannot help but be impressed by its design. A convertible Toyota is also a possibility, as the world has an insatiable appetite for SUVs that are high-riding.
This brings us to the Yaris cross-over. Officially revealed this week for European markets, the high-riding version is already in production and we won’t be long before we see it.
Matt Harrison, Executive Vice President for Toyota’s European Business, states that “this model will contribute to the success of Yaris Europe” and that together they will account for about 30 percent of Toyota’s European sales volume by 2025.