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Toyota Yaris manual axed in Australia; GR Yaris flagship safe

Toyota’s cheapest manual car bites the dust over slow sales, leaving the RAV4 as its final front-wheel-drive manual model.


The Toyota Yaris hatch has joined its bigger Corolla brother in losing its manual transmission option – though enthusiasts can rest easy knowing the high-performance GR variant isn't going anywhere.

The axing of the six-speed manual Yaris – offered only in entry-level Ascent Sport guise – leaves the $23,590 before on-road costs HiLux Workmate ute as the cheapest Toyota available with a manual transmission, despite controversial circa-$9000 price rises introduced with the new-generation Yaris hatch in 2020.

"We can confirm starting from May 2021 the manual transmission option has been removed from all grades of the Yaris hatch ... due a low uptake of less than four per cent since launch. A CVT/automatic ... is now the only transmission option across the range," a Toyota Australia spokesperson told CarAdvice.

The deletion of the manual Corolla, as reported by CarAdviceand the sale of the final 86 sports cars leaves the RAV4 mid-size SUV as the only non-GR Toyota passenger car or SUV available with three pedals.

Five-speed manuals can still be had in LandCruiser 70 Series and entry-level 2.7-litre petrol HiLux vehicles, while the HiAce van and higher-spec versions of the HiLux are still offered with six-speed 'boxes.

In a win for enthusiasts, the GR Yaris will continue to be offered with its six-speed manual – given an automatic variant isn't available globally, and demand for the model has in fact exceeded supply.

Figures obtained by CarAdvice suggest less than 120 manual Yaris vehicles have been sold in total since the model's launch in August 2020 – fewer than the average number of GR Yaris hot hatches sold each month (192) over the first half of 2021.

Priced from $22,130 before on-road costs, the Ascent Sport manual retailed for $1500 less than the CVT automatic-equipped version – making it the cheapest new Toyota on sale in Australia. The gearbox was bolted to a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, developing 88kW and 145Nm.

Combined fuel economy in the manual model was rated at 5.4L/100km – 0.5L/100km higher than the equivalent CVT variant.

The availability of manual transmissions has seen further decline in recent years, as the advent of safety systems and falling customer demand (even from a low base) has pushed buyers further away from three-pedal transmissions.

The deletion of the Yaris' manual transmission is accompanied by price rises across the range of $100 to $110.

"The minor price changes on Yaris hatch are due to updates to vehicle specifications, which includes an upgrade to active cruise control to now work at all speeds, the addition of rear grab handles and the addition of Emergency Steering Assist to the Toyota Safety Sense package," said a Toyota Australia spokesperson.

2021 Toyota Yaris Australian pricing

  • Yaris Ascent Sport petrol auto – $23,740 (up $110)
  • Yaris SX petrol auto – $27,130 (up $110)
  • Yaris SX Hybrid auto – $29,130 (up $110)
  • Yaris ZR petrol auto – $30,200 (up $100)
  • Yaris ZR Hybrid auto – $32,200 (up $100)

Note: All prices listed exclude on-road costs.


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Alex Misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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