Yaris gets €85m makeover

IT may be the most expensive facelift in motoring history. Toyota budgeted a remarkable €85m for the revamp of the Yaris, which was launched across Europe this week — remarkable in that most motor companies prefer a quick wash-and-brush facelift.

But the Supermini C-segment market is so important that Toyota has spent this unusually large amount of money tarting up the third generation of the Yaris, which was originally seen in 2011. Their reasoning is simple: sell more cars.

Next year, Toyota aims to secure 6.5% of the European C-segment market with this new car, and in Ireland the aim is that the Yaris will be better-equipped to tackle the top-selling Fiesta, and stay ahead of the chasing pack of Clios, Polos, and so on.