Toyota Vitz

Toyota Vitz at a glance

Vitz and Yaris: one car, two names

Toyota developed the small hatchback mainly for Europe; Wikipedia EN credits its design to Toyota's ED2 studio in France. In Japan it was sold as the Vitz, in Europe as the Yaris and in North America and Australia, in its first generation, as the Echo. The first generation sat on the NBC platform, shared with the Platz saloon and the Funcargo, which Europe knew as the Yaris Verso. In China, Tianjin FAW Xiali built the first generation as the Vizi until June 2012.

The whole family sold 8.71 million cars worldwide by March 2020, according to Wikipedia EN. Wikipedia JA gives 520,000 global sales in 2017 alone, about 90 per cent of them in Japan and Europe. The carmaker's own past is told in our Toyota history.

First generation: XP10 (1999–2005)

The first Vitz arrived in 1999 with a 1.0-litre 1SZ-FE four-cylinder of 51 kW (70 PS). A 1.3-litre followed with 64 kW (87 PS) and 116 Nm, and in October 2000 the sporty RS got the 1.5-litre 1NZ-FE with 81 kW (110 PS). In Europe the 1.5 was sold from 2001 as the Yaris T Sport.

The car collected awards on both sides of the world. The 1999–2000 Car of the Year title in Japan went to the Vitz together with the Platz and Funcargo, and European jurors chose the Yaris as their car of 2000. Toyota UK later recalled that Euro NCAP had named the original Yaris the safest car in its class in 2000.

Second generation: XP90 (2005–2010)

The second Vitz went on sale in Japan on 1 February 2005. It was 1,695 mm wide, just inside the width limit for Japan's compact "5-number" plate class. Toyota aimed for 10,000 sales a month.

Most versions used a CVT with a torque converter; the RS had a five-speed manual and the four-wheel-drive cars a four-speed automatic. In Europe the Yaris of this generation was also offered with a 1.4 diesel and a 1.8-litre petrol. The Yaris of this generation earned five Euro NCAP stars in 2005.

Third generation: XP130 (2010–2020)

The third Vitz was launched in Yokohama on 22 December 2010. Japanese production was split between Kanegasaki in Iwate (Toyota Motor East Japan) and Ōbu in Aichi (Toyota Industries); the European Yaris came from Onnaing in France from June 2011.

Japanese versions used a CVT, except the RS with a five-speed manual, and four-wheel drive was offered only with the 1.3 and a four-speed automatic. Facelifts followed on 21 April 2014 and 12 January 2017; the second added the hybrid, which Europe had sold as the Yaris Hybrid since 2012. Toyota Safety Sense C brought lane departure alert, automatic high beam and a pre-crash system that brakes automatically between 10 and 80 km/h. Converting these outputs between PS, kW and hp is easy with the power converter.

Sporty versions: RS, GR and GRMN

The RS was the sporty trim of all three generations; an RS "G's" appeared on 6 September 2011, and the RS was dropped in January 2017. GR Sport versions followed on 19 September 2017, with a six-speed manual in the GR version. The rarest Vitz are the GRMN models. The GRMN Turbo of 2013 used a 1.5 turbo with 112 kW; Toyota built 200, all for Japan. At 1,070 kg it carried about 9.6 kg per kW. The 2017 GRMN combined a supercharged 1.8 with 156 kW, a six-speed manual and 0–100 km/h in about 6.3 seconds; 150 were built for Japan and 400 for Europe. Its 156 kW are three times the output of the first Vitz 1.0 with 51 kW.

Safety

Euro NCAP tested the third generation as the Yaris in 2011 and awarded five stars. It scored 89 per cent for adult occupants, 81 per cent for children, 60 per cent for pedestrians and 86 per cent for safety assistance. Toyota UK pointed out that the car met the stricter five-star threshold planned for 2012, with seven airbags including a knee airbag for the driver.

From Vitz to Yaris

Japanese Vitz sales had fallen from about 160,000 a year to 87,000, and Toyota decided to use the global name at home as well. The fourth generation, on the GA-B platform, reached Japanese dealers on 10 February 2020 under the Yaris name; the last third-generation Vitz was sold on 24 April 2020, according to Wikipedia JA. The new Yaris was European Car of the Year again in 2021. Wikipedia EN dates the end of the Vitz name to December 2019.

The name did not disappear entirely. In 2023 Toyota South Africa revived it for a different car: a badge-engineered Suzuki Celerio with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder of 49 kW and 89 Nm, priced from R189,900, according to cars.co.za.