Paul Tan's Automotive News» 2007 Toyota Vios at Paul Tan’s Automotive News

Toyota Belta/Vios/Yaris Sedan facelifted in Japan

Paul Tan — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:49:57 +0000

Toyota seems to have put out a very minor facelift of the Toyota Belta out in Japan. The Belta was originally launched end-2005 and right now is about the time for its mid-life facelift. The Japanese Belta is also known as the Toyota Vios in other markets such as ours, or the Toyota Yaris Sedan.

It looks like there are no changes at all to the styling on the outside except for a small grille change on the front to a mesh grille?

The 1.0 liter version is powered by the 1KR-FE DOHC engine putting out 71 PS at 6,000rpm and 94Nm of torque at 3,600rpm, while the 1.3 liter 2WD version is powered by the 2SZ-FE DOHC engine producing 87 PS at 6,000rpm and 118Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. The 1.3 liter 4WD version uses the 2NZ-FE DOHC engine with 87 PS and 120Nm of torque.

Look for more photos after the jump.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

New Toyota Vios 1.5 J Official Photos

Paul Tan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:06:49 +0000

Readers of this blog have already known this since last week, but now UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd has officially announced the Vios J to the media so we have high resolution photos of the interior to look at, available after the jump.

According to UMW Toyota Motor MD Kuah Kock Heng, the Vios current holds 50% of the 1.4 to 1.5 liter market share in Malaysia, effectively this means foreign makes with a small engine capacity as Proton offerings are 1.3 and 1.6 and the more price-savvy Peroduas are all 1.3 and below. The second generation Vios available in E, G, S and now J form have collectively been selling about 2,500 units a month. They are targetting 700 sales a month from the new Vios J.

With the new Vios J UMW Toyota has finally executed their intention to offer a Vios model for under RM70k (see 4th April 2007 story), although quite a fair bit has been removed from the equipment list. The model under RM70k costs RM69,800 and is only available with a manual transmission. There no airbags, foglamps or alloy wheels but you do get an MP3 CD player albeit not integrated, and other safety features such as ABS remain, which is used more in day to day driving. Adding a 4-speed Super ECT automatic transmission pushes the price up to RM73,500.

Look after the jump for photos of the interiors of both the manual transmission and automatic transmission models.

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This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

New 2009 Toyota Vios J Spec Manual and Auto

Paul Tan — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:46:58 +0000

UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd has added the new Toyota Vios 1.5J to their model range for the 2008 and 2009 model years. The new Toyota Vios 1.5J comes with both a manual and automatic transmission and costs RM69,800.00 or RM73,500.00 respectively, OTR with insurance.

Mechanically, the Vios J spec is similiar to its higher spec brethren, featuring the same 109 PS 1.5 liter VVT-i engine mated to a 4-speed Super ECT gearbox. As for equipment levels, it comes with 14 inch steel wheels wrapped with 175/65R14 tyres, manual wing mirrors, a bumper with no foglamps, dark grey fabric seats, a 1-DIN CD player, 4 speakers, and power windows for all four doors.

There are no SRS airbags in this car, but the anti-lock brakes and EBD remain, with ventilated disc brake at the front and drum brakes at the rear. For those who are interested, the 5-speed manual gearbox’s ratios are: 1st: 3.525, 2nd: 1.904, 3rd: 1.310, 4th: 0.969, 5th: 0.815, reverse: 3.250.

UMW Toyota Motor is also currently running a Merdeka Meriah promo for the Vios from the 1st of July until the 31st of August 2008 where buyers will get a downpayment rebate or a petrol card.

Toyota Vios 1.5J (Manual) – RM69,800.00
Toyota Vios 1.5J (Auto) – RM73,500.00

For photos of the car snapped back in late May 2008, view the related posts below:

Related Posts:
Toyota Vios J with manual transmission spotted!

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This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

Official Toyota Vios pricelist!

Paul Tan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:21:45 +0000

UMW Toyota Motor has prices for the new second generation Toyota Vios up on its website. There has been a small drop in prices from the estimated values announced earlier at the media preview.

The top of the line Toyota Vios 1.5S is going for RM88,100 – down from the estimated RM88,600 announced earlier. The mid range Toyota Vios 1.5G goes for RM84,800, down from RM85,300 and finally the baseline Toyota Vios 1.5E now retails at RM78,700 – a RM200 drop to the previous RM78,900 price.

These prices are for Peninsular Malaysia and are on the road inclusive of insurance.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

2007 Toyota Vios details and photos

Paul Tan — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:32:32 +0000

UMW Toyota Motor had a press preview for the new Toyota Vios earlier today, so here is the latest full details on the variants of the Toyota Vios that will be available in Malaysia.

The new Toyota Vios is bigger than the previous version although it looks somewhat smaller because of it’s Toyota Yaris hatchback connections. Read more on the new Toyota Vios which is in its second generation here in Malaysia, after the jump.

UPDATE: Updated with more photos today, as my DVD drive was abit wonky yesterday.

UPDATE #2: The official launch prices for the 2007 Toyota Vios has been released by UMW Toyota Motor. The 1.5S costs RM88,100, the 1.5G costs RM84,800 and finally the baseline 1.5E costs RM78,700. Click here for more details.

The Toyota Vios is basically the sedan version of the Toyota Yaris, in fact in other countries the duo have been called the Yaris hatch and sedan or the Belta hatch and sedan. Over here in Malaysia it uses the Vios name, in line with Toyota’s marketing plans for the region.

The new Vios uses a completely new chassis which has a longer wheelbase compared to the previous Vios. Cabin length is 1965mm and cabin height is 1200mm. This translates to a 120mm increase in interior length and a 5mm increase in interior height (the car is 25mm taller). Total cabin internal volume is a total of 2,466 liters.

I am 182cm tall and I got into the rear seats and did not have any legroom problems. If I sit up straight and rest the back of my head against the headrest, my head will touch the roof of the car, but if I sit up straight and keep my neck up straight as well, only the tips of my hair touches the roof. Neither my head nor hair touches the roof of the car if I slouch a little in the rear seat. This should give you an idea about the car’s rear headroom. The rear has a flat floor like the Perodua Viva’s, which should help with the middle rear passenger’s comfort.

Toyota Vios 1.5E and 1.5G interior (the 1.5E does not have integrated audio)

Toyota Vios 1.5S interior

The interior once again uses a centrally mounted meter panel and the overall design is similiar to the Toyota Yaris. The 1.5S sporty model uses Optitron meters for the center meter panel with multi-info display, while the others use a conventionally backlit meter panel. I don’t see why this differentiation by downgrading of spec is necessary as even the Myvi gets Optitron meters. The multi-info display shows information from the trip computer such as distance traveled, trip A, trip B, real time fuel consumption, average fuel consumption, remaining range and average vehicle speed.

The 1.5G and 1.5S mid range and high end sporty models feature a clean center dash layout with an integrated CD tuner with MP3 and WMA support, speed-sensitive volume which adjusts volume according to how fast you are driving, and steering wheel audio controls. The Vios 1.5E base model uses a 1-DIN audio player with no steering wheel audio controls.

The climate control knobs are arranged in a triangular fashion – this allows the lower part of the center dash area to be made thinner, allowing for a little storage area to be built around it. A gate-shifter design has been used that allows gate shifts for all four gears – no need to use an OD button to get from 4th to 3rd at highway speeds.

In terms of safety, an SRS driver’s airbag is standard on all models while the 1.5G and the 1.5S gains an additional front passenger airbag. Each SRS airbag also comes with a corresponding pre-tensioner and force limited seatbelt. Antilock brakes, EBD and Brake Assist is also standard on all models. All models also have collapsible steering wheel columns, an automatic impact sensing fuel cut device, and whiplash injury lessening seats.

The 1NZ-FE engine has the same specs on paper (109PS at 6,000rpm and 141Nm of torque at 4,200rpm) as the previous Vios but Toyota says they have made changes to the intake, exhaust and ECU programming to improve the low to mid-end torque even though final peak torque and horsepower figures remain the same. An electric power steering system is now used instead of the previous generation car’s hydraulic power steering.

Instead of a Super-CVT gearbox option available in other countries, this engine is mated to a 4-speed automatic gearbox which uses the same ratios as it’s predecessor, but the transmission control unit programming has been improved. Toyota’s executive chief engineer Yoshihiro Sawa said that a 4-speed auto was picked for this region because of customer feedback – most do not like the rubberband and stepless shift character of a CVT.

475 liters of boot capacity for the new Toyota Vios

If you notice, there is no antenna protruding from anywhere on the Vios as this new model uses a glass imprinted antenna on the rear windscreen. Not only does this make the car more aerodynamic, but this way there is no protruding antenna for anyone to steal! The new car’s boot has a capacity of 475 liters – which is 75 liters more than the previous generation Vios. Of course, this boot space can be extended by folding down flat the 60:40 split rear bench. The boot opening is 680mm from the road surface, which is relatively low so that items load more easily into the boot – you do not have to lift it too high to get it in.

Many have expected the new Toyota Vios to have a baseline model priced at under RM70,000 like UMW Toyota has indicated earlier, but apparently according to UMW Toyota this could not be done even though they tried – apparently despite sourcing more parts locally than before (local content is now at 40%, or a total of 149 parts including body panels from Toyota Auto Body Malaysia), prices for the Toyota Vios 1.5E had to go up by 3.5% and the 1.5G by 1.7%.

Click chart to view chart source

UMW Toyota’s managing director Dato’ David Chen says this is because of the appreciating value of the Thai baht versus the Malaysian ringgit. It’s just too bad that they decided not to lower the price, but then again, if this is the case I suppose UMW Toyota should be happy at the same time that they can be making more from each Toyota Hiace exported to Thailand if the situation continues. Perhaps a lower end manual transmission model with a smaller engine can be introduced at a later date to achieve the under RM70k entry level model price target?

I would say that Toyota has attempted to smoothen out the strange rear roof to boot curve that most sedans built from hatches and the result is not too bad at all – the car does not look overly unbalanced, and the rear spoiler on the 1.5S helps to further smoothen out the rear curves. The car looks better in real life compared to how it looks in photos.

Other than the rear spoiler, the 1.5S model’s bodykit also includes a front lip, and side skirts. It will appear quite unconventional to almost everyone at first, but people will slowly get used to it’s looks I suppose. Despite the S intending to stand for Sporty, the differences between the 1.5S and the 1.5G/1.5E are mainly of equipment level – there is no sports suspension setup for the 1.5S straight from the factory.

Toyota Vios 1.5E and 1.5G interior

Toyota Vios 1.5S interior

The 1.5S interior looks alot more premium than the 1.5E and the 1.5G though, because of the darker colours used which psychologically is disassociated with the typical cheapish beige or light grey plastic that we’re used to seeing in A-segment and B-segment cars. The Optitron meter and the amber-backlit display for the integrated audio also look better in my opinion than the green-backlit version on the 1.5G.

For a full listing of what each of the 1.5E, 1.5G and 1.5S equipment levels offer, please read my previous post on the Toyota Vios specs. Prices remain at RM88,600 for the 1.5S, and RM85,300 for the 1.5G, but the 1.5E has had it’s estimated priced dropped from RM79,200 to RM78,900. These remain unconfirmed and the official prices will only be announced on the 19th of October 2007. Four colours are available and you will be able to see all four of them in the pictures in this post – silver, black, blue and gold.

I will try to get a test drive sometime next month and report to you my findings on how the Toyota Vios is like on the road. If you want to see the car for yourself in the metal, head on to the Mid Valley Exhibition Center today from 5pm to 10pm!

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This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

Public Preview for Toyota Vios on 5th October 2007

Paul Tan — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:29:16 +0000

[ LATEST UPDATE: Click here to find out more details on the Toyota Vios that will be available here in Malaysia, straight from the Malaysian press preview launch! ]

UMW Toyota Motor will be having an exclusive public preview of the new Toyota Vios this Friday (5th of October 2007, 5pm to 10pm) at Hall 3 of the Mid Valley Megamall Exhibition Center (MVEC) – that’s the exhibition halls on the third floor, the same level as Golden Screen Cinemas.

You will be able to see the new Toyota Vios live in person, something many of us have not been able to do except for a few who have traveled north to Thailand or other countries where the Vios has already been introduced. I am very curious as to how it looks like in real life in terms of size, interior space, quality, ergonomics and etcetera as these things are hard to judge by photographs.

There will also be special performances at 8pm by Reshmonu, Danny One, as well as Akademi Fantasia 5 winners Mila, Ebi and Aswad. I will be there and will post photographs from the event, so be sure to go to the preview as well so we will be able to talk about the car together in the comments section when I post about it.

From what I heard, there will be some art exhibits from a Toyota Vios-related art competition being held in local art colleges currently: there is a blog reader called scooterist who talked about being a participant in the previous post.

There will also be live graffiti performances being held at local shopping malls (schedule below) where professional graffiti artists will be employed to create artwork on the Vios-shaped fibreglass model we saw earlier – should be interesting to see the results of these sessions.

The Curve, 6 -7 Oct, 11am – 1pm, 2pm – 6pm, 8pm – 10pm
1 Utama, 13 – 14 Oct, 11am – 1pm, 2pm – 6pm, 8pm – 10pm
City Square, 13 – 14 Oct, 11am – 1pm, 2pm – 6pm, 8pm – 10pm
Garage, Penang, 13 – 14 Oct, 9pm – 11pm, 12am – 3am

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

Toyota Vios pre-launch campaign

Paul Tan — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:55:03 +0000

[ LATEST UPDATE: Click here to find out more details on the Toyota Vios that will be available here in Malaysia, straight from the Malaysian press preview launch! ]

Toyota definitely seems to be intent on making sure all of us know the new Toyota Vios is on it’s way to showrooms. If you check out the Toyota Vios teaser page this week, you should have noticed a link to a new microsite: My Design, My Pride.

Think of it as a way to let you see if an airbrush artist specialising in the Toyota Vios could be one of your possible career paths. You are free to use your own imagination and create your own design on a virtual blank outline of the Toyota Vios. Its mostly modifying the car’s paintjob to your liking, not more advanced stuff like bumper modification and adding spoilers and etc. Once you’re done, you can submit it and you can also download your design as a wallpaper. Then you can proceed to do more designs or vote on other people’s submitted designs.

The top 3 designs will win a Panasonic DVD camcorder each, and will be featured in ads taken up in local newspapers, so it’s a shot for you to get the whole nation to look at your designs. Art students: this should be a good chance to add to your portfolio. I’ll be sending in some of my own “attempts” at a design as well, we can share our creations in the Photoshop and Design section of the forum later perhaps?

The Vios outsells all of it’s same segment competitors here, so despite divided public opinion there is much reason for Toyota to be very proud of their B-segment compact sedan. In general, Toyota Vios (and Honda City) owners seem to be quite proud of their cars. For many, it is their first non-national car; a graduation from local makes and finally a step into the world of imports, even though now imported has taken a different meaning and the car comes into Malaysia as a CKD pack.

There are so many Toyota Vios owners who have customised their rides in so many ways – different wheels, different grilles, some with turbokits perhaps? One way of looking at it is that these are each individual owner’s own personal designs. It’s really built into all of us – why else are we so excited whenever Theophilus Chin or Chaku cooks up an artist impression of a newly launched car? I usually just keep it to personalised alloy wheels though.

My guess is that Toyota is trying to connect with that part of us through this whole My Design, My Pride campaign. A very subjective and emotional thing, but refreshing in the world of launch advertising where others usually just harp on features and/or price.

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There is also something else that reader Ben has sent in: some trucks have been going around the Damansara Heights area carrying white Toyota Vios models. They’ve also been spotted in Kepong and Sri Hartamas. Another reader Richard has spotted them and uploaded some photos here.

Some kind of teaser campaign leading up to the launch (tentatively 4th or 5th of October?). There’s really nothing hidden – it’s obviously the new Vios, just that it’s not a real car, just a white fibreglass model of sorts. It should give you an idea of how the Vios looks like in metal (albeit being an albino version), instead of just photos.

Let’s wait and see what happens the end of next week.

More photos after the jump.

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This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

Toyota Vios launch on 4/5 October 2007?

Paul Tan — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 08:57:01 +0000

[ LATEST UPDATE: Click here to find out more details on the Toyota Vios that will be available here in Malaysia, straight from the Malaysian press preview launch! ]

I was surfing Maxis’ new PacMee service and I spotted this small posting (cropped screenshot above) by jLinkModels advertising for 4 models for a Toyota launch on the night of 4th October 2007, 5 to 7pm. A night event could mean the car will be officially launched the next day, so the official launch could either be on the 4th or 5th of October 2007, about two weeks away. The product will most likely be the new Toyota Vios. Read more in the links below. The teaser I blogged about recently has information on specification levels for the E, G and S models as well as estimated pricing.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

New Toyota Vios line-up teaser with prices

Paul Tan — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 08:17:07 +0000

[ LATEST UPDATE: Click here to find out more details on the Toyota Vios that will be available here in Malaysia, straight from the Malaysian press preview launch! ]

[ LATEST UPDATE #2: The official launch prices for the 2007 Toyota Vios has been released by UMW Toyota Motor. The sporty top of the range Vios 1.5S is priced at RM88,100. The mid-range Vios 1.5G costs RM84,800 and finally the baseline 1.5E costs RM78,700. Click here for more details. ]

UMW Toyota Motor has put up a teaser section on the new 2nd generation Toyota Vios (known as the Toyota Belta in Japan) on their website in place of the usual section where information on the first generation Vios was available.

There are 3 trim levels available, up from two from the previous generation Vios. All three are 1.5 liter versions and none of them are under 70K as previously mentioned, so I suppose either the cheaper models will come later, or they are just missing from the teaser and will all be launched together.

Toyota Vios 1.5E

The baseline Toyota Vios is the 1.5E model which features front disc brakes and rear drum brakes with 14 inch alloy wheels wrapped with 175/65R14 tyres. This baseline model has it’s turn signals on the fender and foglamps on the front bumper.

On the interior, you have an electric power steering with a steering wheel that’s tilt adjustable but not reach adjustable. Seats are fabric seats done up in beige, and the interior is generally a two tone dark grey and beige/silver colour scheme. The centrally-mounted meter cluster uses analog white meters are there is no multi-information display – this will probably be a trip computer with fuel economy calculation of sorts. The in-car entertainment system uses a 1-DIN standard size CD player with 4 speakers.

Both the 3-spoke steering wheel and shift knob are wrapped with urethane. Wing mirrors are manually adjustable. The Vios 1.5E has no hood silencer and only has an inner dash silencer. This shouldn’t be too much of a hassle as you can add your own sound-proofing later from aftermarket accessories. Safety features include ABS, EBD, Brake Assist, and a single driver airbag.

The Toyota Vios 1.5E is estimated to be priced at RM79,200.

Toyota Vios 1.5G

The middle-child is the Toyota Vios 1.5G. Brakes have been upgraded to include discs at the rear. The steering wheel is similar to the 1.5E, but it is now wrapped with leather, and so is the shift lever and knob. The in-car entertainment system uses a dash integrated head unit with a tuner and a CD player featuring MP3 and WMA support. This is hooked up to a 6-speaker system.

Other than that, the interior is the same 2-tone dark grey and beige/silver interior as the baseline model. The turn indicator is now mounted on the wing mirrors, which are power adjustable and retractable. As for sound dampening, this mid-range model gets a hood silencer and a better dash silencer with both inner and outer silencing material. Safety features are similiar to the 1.5E, except this model has two airbags – one for the driver and one for the front passenger.

The Toyota Vios 1.5G is estimated to be priced at RM85,300.

Toyota Vios 1.5S

This is the top of the range Toyota Vios. The Toyota Vios 1.5S can be seen as the sportier model of the range as it is fitted with an aerokit on the exterior. It’s specifications are an upgrade over the Toyota Vios 1.5E, so whatever the 1.5E has, the 1.5S will have something equivalent or better.

The interior is a more sporty dark grey and black combination colour scheme, and the centrally mounted meter cluster are Optitron meters which light up in amber. There is also a multi-information display, something all the other variants do not have. This display will probably be a trip computer of sorts, providing you with various information like average fuel economy.

The Toyota Vios 1.5S is estimated to be priced at RM88,600.

Mechanically there is nothing much new Toyota Vios as the proven 1NZ-FE 1.5 liter engine with 109 PS at 6,000rpm and 141Nm of torque at 4,200rpm is retained, but the usage of an electric power steering in this new Vios instead of a hydraulic power steering in the old Vios might contribute a little to fuel economy and power.

As it is counter-productive to repeat everything about the car here, please read my previous posts on the new Toyota Vios linked below to learn more about the car and view more photos.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

New Toyota Vios expected in 4th quarter this year

Paul Tan — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:24:31 +0000

A report in The Edge Daily on UMW’s rising share prices carries some information on when we can expect to see the new Toyota Vios in Malaysia. The report says the new Toyota Vios is expected in 4Q07, which should be anytime between October 2007 to December 2007. Read more about the new Toyota Vios in the related posts below:

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

UMW Toyota plans to price new baseline spec Toyota Vios at under RM70,000

Paul Tan — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 07:21:50 +0000

It seems that we will be able to enjoy the new Vios recently launched in Thailand for less than RM70,000! This is for the lowest spec version of course, which could possibly be offered with a manual transmission. The Edge Daily has an exclusive report that UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd plans to offer the new third generation (second gen in our market) Toyota Vios at a price of just under RM70,000, the first for a brand new Japanese sedan in a very long time.

If all goes well, this is very good news for the rakyat indeed. While still more expensive than our northern neighbours in Tomyamland who get to enjoy the Vios for between RM50,849 to RM69,830, beggars with the NAP over their heads can’t be choosers.

I really have to give it to the guys at UMW Holdings Bhd. They practically have the whole market cornered. The current Perodua Kancil and the upcoming Perodua Viva should conquer the below RM40,000 market, the Myvi rules the RM40,000 to RM50,000 market, and the new Vios will most likely conquer the B-segment Japanese sedan market as well, following the success of the current Vios. The Camry has proven to be a hit despite rumours of deliveries being hit by AP issues, and while the Civic currently reigns in the C-segment sedan sales, there’s no telling what the new Corolla will do to that segment once it is launched. Kudos to UMW’s outstanding performance.

Source

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

New Toyota Vios launched in Thailand

Paul Tan — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:10:47 +0000

[ LATEST UPDATE: Click here to find out more details on the Toyota Vios that will be available here in Malaysia, straight from the Malaysian press preview launch! ]

[ UPDATE: Toyota is currently having a pre-launch promo campaign for the new Toyota Vios. Click here to find out more! ]

The new third generation Toyota Vios has been launched in Thailand, without much suprise as spyshots of the new Belta on test in Thailand as a Vios have been captured recently. The new Toyota Vios is based on the Toyota Belta, or the Toyota Yaris Sedan, which is currently being sold globally. This means the third gen Vios is now a global model instead of being a regional ASEAN model. You can already see the hatchback version being sold in the Malaysian market, the Toyota Yaris. Of course, trim level and some other variables are changed here and there with the different regions.

Compared to the 2nd generation Vios still being sold in Malaysia, the third gen Vios wheelbase is longer by 50mm at 2550mm, which is also longer than the Yaris hatchback which only stands at 2460mm. It is also heavier, now weighing 1045kg compared to the 2nd gen Vios’ kerb weight of 980kg. The 1NZ-FE engine and 4-speed Super ECT gearbox is retained, producing 109 horsepower and a maximum torque of 142Nm at 4,200rpm. This means you may feel the 2nd generation Vios is slightly more zippy than the 3rd generation Vios once it gets launched in Malaysia.

On the interior, dash layout is pretty much the same as the Toyota Yaris being the same car, and the plus point is it shares the Yaris interior’s abundance of storage space. However it also shares the Toyota Yaris meter panel’s centrally-mounted location, which some dislike and prefer a conventional location.

More photos after the jump.

Video: Toyota Belta Human Touch (Toyota Vios)

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

Toyota Belta on test in Thailand as Toyota VIOS!

Paul Tan — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 19:36:29 +0000

This lightly disguised Toyota Belta has been sighted doing test rounds around Thailand, and images of it have been circulating around the internet. It was posted in the Automotive Forums by reader stephen_ksf. Have a look at the other two photos after the jump and you will find an undisguised rear shot which carries the VIOS badge on the boot lid. Looks like Thailand will be getting a new Toyota VIOS replacement very soon. The Toyota VIOS was only introduced in our market in the year 2003, and was facelifted last year in 2006. That’s three years before a facelift – it’s currently 2007, perhaps we’ll get a new model change in 2008 or 2009.

Rumour is that the new 2nd generation Toyota VIOS on our market will also offer a 1.3 liter version priced somewhere between the Perodua Myvi and the VIOS 1.5 liter, about 65k or so, which will definitely prove to be a Proton killer. But then again, rumours and word of mouth shall remain just that, just rumours, until any official announcement or press release. There are plenty of rumours going around of so-called pending new models to be released soon, they usually center around the Nissan Note and the Toyota Ractic being offered at impossible RM4x,xxx price ranges.

Anyway, have a look at the other two photos after the jump, and if you haven’t visited the forums and signed up for an account to participate yet, feel free to do so!

Source

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

UMW Toyota to manufacture cars locally

Paul Tan — Thu, 25 May 2006 00:20:49 +0000

UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd is taking it’s operations here to the next step. It will start manufacturing cars here in Malaysia, with the first roll-out expected in 18 months time.

Toyota’s sales success of around 7000 cars a month has reached a milestone where it will begin to be financially feasible to manufacture vehicles locally instead of importing CKD kits and merely assembling them here in Malaysia. These Malaysian-manufactured Toyota cars would have over 60% local content. Toyota officials did not mention which models would be manufactured locally, but it is likely the high volume models like the Toyota VIOS which accounts for 1,500 units of the 7,000 monthly sales figure.

There is a future possibility of price reductions for the locally manufactured vehicles from cost-savings from its operations, but this is just a possibility. UMW Toyota is also exporting a vehicle assembled locally to Thailand beginning next Monday. The model exported will be a van model.

Source

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.

2006 Toyota Belta

Paul Tan — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 09:45:08 +0000

Toyota has just launched it’s smallest sedan car, the Toyota Belta for the Japanese market. Belta means ‘beauty’ or ‘beautiful person’, derived from the Italian word belleza. The car is 4.3 meters long and 1.7 meters wide.

The car has 3 engine options available. The 1.0 liter 1KR-FE and 1.3 liter 2SZ-FE is mated to a Super CVT-i continuously variable transmission, and is front wheel drive. There is also the option of a 1.3 liter 2Nz-FE mated to a 4-speed Super ECT automatic transmission with four wheel drive. All engines are equipped with VVT-i variable valve timing. The 1.3 liter 2WD has a fuel consumption of 19.6km/l while the 1.0 liter 2WD manages 22km/l.

It looks like this new grille styling is set to be Toyota’s new identity, as also seen on the 2006 Toyota Camry. Frankly I don’t like it very much.

Not too keen on the beige interior, I prefer dark coloured interiors like the City VTEC’s.

The car has a centre-mounted dashboard console just like the VIOS. Digital trip meter and fuel meter is already pretty common in the latest cars.

Last but not least, here’s a version equipped with a bodykit. I like how Toyota always has a few bodykit sets already available once a car is released. Don’t need to wait for someone else to develop it.

This should be a pretty interesting car to watch, as it might come to Malaysia as some form of VIOS replacement or something, though the VIOS was designed to be a 1.3/1.5 engine capacity car and this one is a 1.0/1.3 engine capacity car.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 08:30:07 +0800.