Toyota Malaysia has posted on social media teasing the arrival of the Yaris Cross to our market.
This morning Toyota Malaysia posted an image on Facebook teasing the Yaris Cross. The Yaris Cross is scheduled to arrive in our market this year. The Toyota Yaris Cross is the twin sibling to the Perodua Traz, which was launched late last year to mixed reviews. While the Traz was a relatively good looking crossover with a reputable engine and decent driving characteristics, it felt as if it was equipped to make room for a more upmarket Toyota alternative, and that might just be the case here.
The teaser from Toyota Malaysia’s official Facebook page shows the Toyota Yaris Cross in silver somewhat obscured by baloons with test reading “Where confidence meets every journey. Coming Soon”. The obscured tail section hides any indiciation of the powertrain type though the Yaris Cross HEV model sports the rims shown in the teaser.
There are two powertrain options for the Yaris Cross, a 1.5L 4-cylinder petrol with 105hp and 138Nm of torque or a 1.5L 4-cylinder hybrid with 90hp and 121Nm coming from the petrol motor and 79hp and 141Nm of torque coming from the electric motor.
While the Perodua Traz only comes with a petrol powertrain, it’s likely the Yaris Cross will arrive with the hybrid powertrain, which debuted in Malaysia on the recently launched Vios Hybrid. As the Vios Hybrid is priced from RM103,900, we can expect the Yaris Cross to be a little more expensive than that. As a reminder, the Chery Tiggo Cross Hybrid has been available in Malaysia since last year from under RM100,000. It’s possible that Toyota Malaysia will also launch a petrol model to bring the base price down.
That being said, the Perodua Traz is already priced between RM76,100 and RM82,000. The Toyota Vios comes in at RM90,600. It feels as if a base model Yaris Cross with the petrol engine will need to come in below the RM100,000 mark to make much sense.
