Toyota will apparently unveil a hybrid Vios in Q3 to give the vehicle more power and give the Honda City Hybrid some competition.
Since its arrival in 2017, the Honda City Hybrid has pretty much had the market to itself, as there are no cars or competition like it.
Yes, its archnemesis the Toyota Vios has always been there, but never before had Toyota introduced a hybrid variant to give the Honda City hybrid some much-needed competition.
Well, if we were to believe Thai scoop specialist, Headlightmag, the City Hybrid would soon no longer be alone, as the Toyota Vios Hybrid will be launched this year, giving the Honda City Hybrid its long-awaited sparing partner.
According to the Thai website,Toyota Thailand is set to launch another new variant of the Toyota Ativ (which is their version of the Vios) that uses hybrid technology. The current Toyota Ativ model is in the Low-Cost Green Car category, using a 1.2-litre engine paired to a CVT.
Since its launch in 2022, the Toyota Ativ has been one of the hottest-selling cars in the Thai market, but despite this, there have been some complaints about the car, in particular when it comes to its engine performance as the 1.2-litre engine only generates 91 horsepower and 109Nm of torque.
To overcome this problem, Toyota Motor Thailand will reportedly launch the Yaris Ativ Hybrid in the 3rd quarter of 2023. This car will apparently use the same e-Smart Hybrid system as used by the Perodua Ativa Hybrid, where the 1.2-litre WA-VEX engine operates as a battery charger.
However, Headlightmag seems to suggest that the Yaris Ativ will be equipped with a larger 1.5-litre powerplant, which should come with improved performance.
There's still no indication of how much horsepower and torque the electric motor would produce and this mystery extends to battery size.
In terms of appearance, it is likely that the Toyota Yaris Ativ will maintain the same design as the regular car, but in typical Toyota fashion, it'll probably be equipped with blue Toyota logos and accents, just like most of its hybrid vehicles.
Keyword: The Toyota Yaris Ativ (Vios for us) is about to be electrified this year tohelp improve its performance