It is some €2,200 more to buy than an equivalent standard Yaris but the Irish distributor expects up to 15 percent of all Yaris sales will be hybrid next year. Which is possibly 350 units. If that is achieved, it will seriously increase the hybrid ownership here, as 2012 sales to date in this category came to 617 units.
That last figure isn't the whole story, though. It includes Used Imports of hybrid cars registered here during the year. A significant chunk of the total at 200 units, 164 of these Toyotas and the balance Hondas. So 350 new Yaris Hybrids would effectively double new hybrid sales here.
I think they can do it. The new Yaris Hybrid is comfortably below a critical €20,000 price level, on a par with a similarly equipped diesel version, and has an automatic gearbox thrown in. It will also have the lowest road tax available under whatever new regime comes up in next week's budget.
And, though it does have some distinguishing cues to show that it is a hybrid, it is to most people just another Yaris, the best selling supermini in Ireland. There are people quite happy to buy 'green' but don't particularly want to make a showcase of their choice.
At least now there is a choice in the segment that doesn't force buyers to diesel when that engine type isn't what they should be driving unless they do high mileages.
Steve Tormey and Dave Shannon of Toyota Ireland at the launch of the Yaris Hybrid here.
