Toyota is coming for the BYD Dolphin, GWM Ora and MG4, but is a Toyota Yaris electric car really in its future?: reports

Toyota has been reaping the benefits of a relatively reserved global electric vehicle strategy, but other makers have been diving into the deep end of the EV pool with offerings in virtually all market categories.

Sticking with the petrol-electric hybrid technology it pioneered in the 1990s, the Japanese giant appears to have struck the optimal mix of powertrains to generate consumer demand while dealing with ever-tightening carbon emissions and vehicle sales regulations.

But that doesn’t mean Toyota has consigned EVs to the back burner. The bZ4X compact EV SUV has been launched in multiple export markets, including Australia, its larger bZ3X cousin (jointly-developed with GAC) is offered as a budget-focused option in China and the C-HR+ has just launched in Europe.

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And other EVs are reportedly either under consideration or in the early stages of development as the appetite for electric cars continues to grow, but at a far slower rate than many manufacturers initially believed it would.

One long-standing Toyota city-car favourite, seemingly ripe for electrification, is the Yaris and Toyota Motor Europe’s Director of Marketing and Product Development Andrea Carlucci has confirmed an electric successor for the sub-compact five-door is in the company’s plans.

Speaking at this week’s launch of the pure-electric C-HR+, Mr Carlucci told Autocar a Toyota electric supermini is likely to arrive in the latter part of the decade but made the point that new EVs in higher volume segments will take priority.

When asked about a Yaris EV he said, “This is the idea, but now it is not something we talk about”.

Toyota Yaris

"We have deliberately decided to start [electric car sales] in the fastest-growing segments. The right moment will arrive, but this is not quite now. There will come a time and a place.

“For us, it is all about the right car, the right place at the right time. It really is. And at the moment, the expansion you're seeing are the right segments for Europe for us right now,” he said.

Toyota Yaris

Interestingly, like the C-HR+, the newcomer is expected to retain the Yaris name, as Carlucci told Autocar that future Toyota EVs would take "familiar" names from “current cars”.

And Toyota is not alone in reevaluating its decision to designate its electric models with specific (in this case 'bZ') sub-branding, as Audi has massaged its ‘e-tron’ naming conventions and Mercedes-Benz has integrated its ‘EQ’ models into the brand’s broader model line-up.