2017 Toyota Yaris vs Mazda 2

What's the difference?

There is no other brand of car in Australia with a reputation to rival Toyota's. Think about it – whenever anyone asks about a car for a youngster, or their aunt who doesn’t really drive much, or an older parent, what’s the first brand that’s invariably brought up?

The Yaris has served as the brand’s smallest passenger entrant in Australia since 2005, and more than 220,000 have found new homes in that time.

Toyota has just updated the local range – comprising the entry level Ascent, the mid-grade SX and the top-shelf ZR - and it’s now only available as a five-door hatch after the four-door sedan was deleted from the line-up.

It's fair to say that it's motoring at its most basic, but does it represent good value for money?

It's an unhappy coincidence of the city car world that, while our smallest vehicles have never been better, fewer people are buying them than ever before.

Back when they felt like they were built using the aluminium that seals Milo tins and were as safe to handle as a ninja throwing star we were snapping them up in huge numbers. But for whatever reason (most experts just mumble the term 'SUV' a lot), the better they've gotten, and the less we've wanted them.

None of which bodes well for the for the Mazda2 Genki hatch, which, as it turns out, is very good indeed.