2012 Toyota Yaris Previewed by New Japanese-Market Vitz

2012 Toyota Yaris Previewed by New Japanese-Market Vitz:  Toyota revealed its latest Vitz, a B-segment car better known here as the Toyota Yaris, today in Japan. This car will likely come to the American market as a 2012 model after a trip to the plastic surgeon trims the front fascia, a market Toyota logo is added, and the car is tweaked for our GeneRally.

                             In Japan, the Vitz will be sold with a choice of a 1.0-, 1.3-, 1.5-liter engines or. Expect the Yaris-badged version to forego the first two for sure, the 1.5-liter matches the current US-market car's displacement and is a strong possibility. Transmission in the home market, the 1.5-liter is paired with either a five-speed manual or a continuously variable. The latter could come here to replace the optional automatic in the lineup, although no nonhybrid American-market Toyotas currently offer CVTs.

We do hope the Vitz's interior, seen above, carries over to the U.S. car. The gauges have finally moved to our preferred position above the steering wheel, rather than in the center-mounted pod of the current Yaris and the Echo before it. Otherwise it's a very simple layout, although it looks like high art when compared to the interior in Nissan's recently unveiled Sunny.