Toyota Discontinues the Mazda 2 - Er, Yaris

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Bad news to share — especially for those of you enamored with cheap, entry-level passenger cars. The Toyota Yaris sedan and hatchback will vanish after the 2020 model year.

Reworked versions of the Mazda 2, the guppy-faced Yarises greeted North American buyers in two phases after the “real” Yaris bowed out, first as a sedan and later as a hatchback. Get one while you can.

Toyota confirmed the discontinuation to CarBuzz after the publication got its hands on a memo sent to Southeastern Toyota dealers from head office. The missive warned said dealers of the looming product chop.

“The Yaris sedan and Yaris Hatchback will not be available for model year 2021. Model year 2020 will be the last year for Yaris in the U.S.,” a spokesperson from the automaker confirmed to the publication.

The Toyota-ified Mazda first appeared on these shores as the Scion iA. When that brand bit the dust, the automaker transferred the sedan to its parent division for 2017. The hatchback version came along only for the 2020 model year. Spartan, with limited choice in build configuration and trim and none in terms of power, the sedan and hatch start at $16,605 and $18,705, respectively, after destination.

As all of this was happening, Toyota unleashed a new-generation Yaris in overseas markets. There’s little hope that model could will arrive here, even in hot-hatch GR form, as neither the real nor fake Yaris sold well in recent years; in 2019, Toyota sold nearly 6,000 more Avalons than it did Yarises. Still, Toyota does aim to add some excitement to the lower end of its lineup.

In the Yaris’ absence, Nissan will no doubt tempt low-end buyers in search of a sedan with its new Versa.

[Images: Toyota]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Tankinbeans Tankinbeans on Jun 24, 2020

    With the Yaris (Mazda2), Mazda3, Mazda6 all returning similar mileage, and the price difference between the Mazda2 and the next size up being so relatively small, I don't see the point. I haven't driven the Yaris (Mazda2), but I have a good amount of seat time in the Mazda3, both automatic and manual, as well as the Mazda6, manual only, and they're good. In fact your achieved my best tank ever in the Mazda6 at just shy of 40 mpg combined (admittedly the conditions were perfect, but it felt good nonetheless). Previously that honor belong to my '13 Focus manual which returned 35ish.

  • Digitaldoc Digitaldoc on Jun 24, 2020

    Can't imagine why a 1.5NA engine did not sell! About the best we could say about this car is that it does not have a CVT.

  • Rochester "better than Vinfast" is a pretty low bar.
  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
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