Toyota accepting bookings on new Vios

It would seem that the Toyota Vios will be replaced very soon and Toyota are accepting bookings on the new model. In January we reported that the new Vios had been spotted testing in Bangkok, and this suggested that a launch at or before the Bangkok International Motor Show.

The Vios has been a massive success for Toyota, largely because there is so little competition in the sub-compact sedan market. Until the launch of the Chevrolet Aveo last year, the Toyota Vios and Honda City were sharing the market, with the Vios easily trumping the City in terms of sales.

Now there are three vehicles in this segment, and Toyota will be hoping that the new Vios will be as successful as the model it replaces. Based on the new Yaris platform the Vios has been on sale in Japan for some time with the "Belta" badge. The images below are of the Belta, but we can expect the Vios to be virtually identical to the Japanese model.

However, while the Japanese Belta comes with 1.0 and 1.3 liter power units, the Thai Vios will be propelled by the same 1.5 liter 110hp VVT-i engine as found in the Yaris.

The interior maintains the center-mounted dial arrangement from the Yaris, which seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it arrangement. The interior design is similar to the Yaris also, but it seems that some of the practical stowage compartments will be sacrificed in the Vios to cut costs.

Toyota's exterior styling has come a long way in recent years, and although the new Vios will not be to everyone's liking, I'm happy to see Toyota taking a bolder stance in terms of their styling image.

Pricing for the new Vios will probably be a bit higher than the current model, which sells for just under THB 499,000, but still well under the THB 599,000 price tag of the base model Yaris.