Toyota’s smallest sedan and hatchback won’t return next year, the automaker confirmed this week.
The Toyota Yaris sedan and hatchback will be dropped from the automaker’s lineup after this year, spokesman Zachary Reed said. The small cars were built by Mazda for Toyota, and were sold in the U.S. and Canada as the Scion iA, Mazda2, and then eventually as the Yaris.
The small Yaris struggled to find an audience in the U.S.
Toyota reported in April that sales of the Yaris through the first quarter of 2020 had fallen 84% from the same period last year, largely due to the slowdown from the coronavirus. In 2019 however, Toyota reported sales of the Yaris had fallen nearly 20% from the full year before, and it was Toyota’s slowest-selling four-door passenger car, excluding the hydrogen-powered Mirai.
For now, the most affordable 2021 Toyota model may be the Corolla sedan, which starts for less than $ 20,000.
In 2018, Toyota and Mazda announced a joint production plant near Huntsville, Alabama, that could eventually build a small-car replacement for the outgoing Yaris. Although it’s unclear if that will be a small crossover or passenger car.
