Toyota Yaris Ativ coming to Malaysia in 2023 to wipe smile off City's face

The 2023 Toyota Vios might just be the car to propel Toyota to the top of the non-national B-Segment chart.

If you're looking to buy a B-segment sedan, perhaps you should wait a bit longer, as 2023 will see the arrival of the new Toyota Vios in Malaysia, a car which will surely give the Honda City some hot competition.

Called the Yaris Ativ in Thailand, where it is built, the 4th-gen Toyota Vios utilises Daihatsu's New Global Architecture (DNGA) platform, similarly used in popular and successful vehicles like the Perodua Ativa and Perodua Alza.

One of the best things about the 2023 Toyota Vios is its looks. It clearly steals some visual cues from its better-looking brothers, the Corolla and Camry, featuring prominent downward-facing hexagonal grille, slim swept-back headlights housing LED main beams and DRLs, 16-inch wheels, and a more coupe-like roofline.

While the rear of the car looks undeniably better than the current Vios, its taillights are controversially similar to the Honda City, which ironically has also been criticised for looking like the ones of the G20 BMW 3 Series.

To go along with its more upmarket exterior is a new upmarket interior, an area where the Vios has been criticised heavily in the past. The interior design is elegant and classy, and is also the first Vios to come with a digital instrument cluster, electric handbrake as well as ambient lighting. This atmosphere mood lighting can be adjusted to 64 shades.

The new Vios also comes with a new CVT transmission, said to deliver smoothness and good response when cruising and accelerating. 

We're unsure whether we will be getting this new CVT transmission when it comes to Malaysia, as it's highly unlikely that we'll be getting the rather lifeless 1.2-litre 3NR-VE naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine that produces 94PS and 110Nm of torque. 

Apparently, this engine was kitted out with Thai spec Vios to comply with the country's Eco Car regulations and the cheaper petrol available at pumps with 20% Ethanol (E20).

The good news is that the Vios In Malaysia will probably come with the 1.5-litre 2NR-VE four-cylinder with 107PS and 140Nm torque, carried over from the current model.

Only the Smart and Premium variants in Thailand gain active safety from Toyota's Safety Sense suite,  which includes advanced safety features such as:

• Pre-Collision (AEB)
• Lane Departure Alert
• Front Departure Alert
• Pedal Mis-operation Control
• Blind Spot Monitoring (Premium variant) 
• Automatic High Beam (Premium variant)
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert (Premium variant)

The Toyota Yari Ativ is priced from 539,000 baht(RM69k) and goes all the way up to 689,000 baht (RM88k).

Will the 2023 Toyota Vios be the new non-national B-Segment king? Only time will tell, but looking at the design, specs and value proposition, it's got everything it needs to have to be a popular model.