The Toyota Yaris has reached 10 million global sales in its 25th year of production, as its Australian tally passes 360,000 units.

    Now in its fourth generation, the original Yaris was actually named the Echo in Australia. The first-gen car sold 81,983 units Down Under between 1999 and 2006.

    Today, the Yaris line has collectively returned 361,982 sales in Australia, also including the Yaris Cross SUV (19,184 units) and the GR Yaris hot hatch (2392 units).

    It’s the sixth nameplate in Toyota’s line-up to reach eight-figure sales globally, following the Corolla, Camry, RAV4, HiLux and LandCruiser.

    “Yaris has consistently been a pioneer, introducing new technologies and concepts to the compact car market for almost a quarter of a century,” Toyota Australia said in a media release.

    “Its spirit of innovation has helped maintain its status as one of Toyota’s consistently popular models since the first-generation Yaris became the first Toyota to be named European Car of the Year, in 2000. It also won the Japan Car of the Year title.”

    “The current fourth-generation model was named European Car of the Year in 2021. It is Toyota Australia’s most fuel-efficient car, with hybrid variants offering an official combined fuel-consumption figure of just 3.3 litres per 100km.”

    “At launch, it was the only vehicle in its class with front-centre airbags, intended to protect the heads of front-seat occupants, and a driver-assist system designed to detect and automatically brake to help avoid pedestrians and vehicles at intersections.”

    The current Toyota Yaris has become a global model, with production bases in Japan, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, France and the Czech Republic. Australian models continue to be sourced from Japan.

    Initial production of the Yaris nameplate commenced at Toyota’s Takaoka facility in Japan back in January 1999.

    While not the sales leader in Australia it once was, the Yaris still accounts for around 5-6 per cent of mainstream light vehicle sales in Australia – a segment currently dominated by China’s MG 3.

    In 2022 the Yaris hatchback returned 2979 registrations in Australia, while so far in 2023 (to March 31) some 539 units had found homes. The sales baton has been passed on to the related Yaris Cross SUV, which for calendar year 2022 returned 8432 units, and 1613 sales year to date in 2023 (to March 31).

    Owned a Toyota Yaris? Tell us your story with the nameplate in the comments!

    MORE: Everything Toyota Yaris

    James Wong

    James Wong is the Production Editor at CarExpert based in Melbourne, Australia. With experience on both media and manufacturer sides of the industry, James has a specialty for product knowledge which stems from a life-long obsession with cars. James is a Monash University journalism graduate, an avid tennis player, and the proud charity ambassador for Drive Against Depression – an organisation that supports mental wellness through the freedom of driving and the love of cars. He's also the proud father of Freddy, a 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI .

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