The first Toyota GR Yaris is in the Philippines

The first Toyota GR Yaris has just made its way onto Philippine soil and is now under the ownership of Carlos Gono. The sporty hatchback is a vehicle that was developed by Toyota in order to participate in rally racing. In order for the Japanese brand to compete it needs to make and sell a certain number of units to meet homologation rules. The unit that just entered the Philippine market is a prime example of this and what Toyota can do in terms of making a performance car that comes in a small package. The unit itself is also said to have been imported from Germany, as it is one of the first European markets that have the vehicle available in a left-hand-drive configuration.

It is important to remember that Toyota Philippines currently sells the ASEAN or emerging markets version of the Toyota Yaris and it is a completely different product from that of the Global version that the GR Yaris is based on. 

That said, the GR-tuned Yaris does pack quite a punch as it comes with a more powerful engine under the hood and a four-wheel-drive system compared to its tamer Global version counterpart.  According to Toyota’s European specifications for the vehicle, it produces an impressive 261hp and 360 Nm of torque from a 1.6-liter 3-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine. It sends power to the ground via a 6-speed manual transmission and through its GR tuned four-wheel-drive system. The performance hatchback will reportedly be used as a track car later on in its life and is under development by Autoplus Sportszentrium to further tune the vehicle.

While the vehicle is the first of its kind in the Philippines, it is important to note that Toyota Philippines has yet to officially put up the vehicle for sale in the country. However, while not yet entirely confirmed, the Japanese brand reportedly does have plans to bring in the race-ready vehicle by the second quarter of 2021. Pricing for the Toyota GR Yaris is still unknown but is expected to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of P3,500,000.