2016 Toyota Yaris has a distinctive grille.Darren McGee/The Globe and Mail
The Vehicle
What's in a name? That which we call the subcompact 2016 Toyota Yaris Sedan will be known as the Scion iA south of the border.
Signature feature
Toyota is making hay in New York, trumpeting the iA/Yaris as Scion's first sedan. In Canada, not so much. Canadians love their hatchbacks and the Toyota Canada lineup already features a number of sedans. This is another.
What else is new?
Well, there's that Darth Vader grille. Toyota boasts about its "striking profile that stands out from the crowd." Indeed, it does. However, that's not always a good thing.
Under the hood
The Yaris features a 106 horsepower, 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine "with a sporty yet muted rasp," says Toyota. Buyers will be offered a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
When can we buy it and for how much?
Canadian pricing has yet to be announced, but the iA will list for about $16,000 in the United States. Toyota says the new Yaris will be available later this year.
Cool quotient
2.5 stars (out of 5)
The grille aside, the Yaris has a Mazda2 look to it, and that's not a bad thing.
The writer was a guest of the auto maker. Content was not subject to approval.
Darren McGee