You Auto Know	Honey, I Shrunk the Camry by Jim Corbran

The 2007 Toyota Yaris

Hold this page out at arm’s length and try and tell me the new Yaris sedan in the accompanying photo doesn’t look like a mini-Camry. (Not a bad thing, marketing-wise, as the Camry is currently the best-selling car in America.)

But don’t expect to drive over to your friendly Toyota dealer and easily buy one anytime soon. Much like the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii, Toyota Yarises are flying off the shelf (if you will) as soon as a new shipment arrives. This was hardly the case with the Yaris’s pre-2006 model (known in these parts as the Echo), which was different, but not that different.

A little history, please: The Echo was introduced to North America in 1999 as a 2000 model. It was based on the Platz (sedan) and Vitz (hatchback), which initially went on sale in Japan, and shared a platform with a couple of other models which eventually made their way to the US as the Scion xA and xB. While a hit in Japan, Europe and even in Canada, the Echo never fared very well in the US. Its main obstacle was its looks—tall and skinny may be all right for guys like me, but it hardly ever works on a car. After initial-year sales of around 50,000 vehicles, American consumers stayed away in droves and Toyota had a rare flop on its hands. But fear not; they didn’t get where they are today by walking away with their tail between their legs. A restyle, a rename to Yaris (as it’s also now known in the rest of the world) and a little help from a certain hurricane season with subsequent rising gas prices—and, voila, they can’t build’ em fast enough. Who’d a-thought?

Well, like I said, the Echo was tall and skinny, and the Yaris is too, but (unlike myself) it looks as though maybe it’s been “working out” some and isn’t quite so lanky. The dashboard still has the speedometer and other gauges mounted in the center rather than in front of the driver. This setup was the bane of most automotive writers when the Echo first went on sale. I don’t know just what their problem was, as I drove one back then and it took me about two blocks to adjust. It’s there because Toyota doesn’t have to spend as much to retool between right- and left-hand drive for its many different markets. All of the controls (audio, HVAC) are also mounted on a center stack below the speedometer, which makes for a very clean look. I suppose this setup also gives the illusion of more room—there is plenty of room, but it looks much larger than it is.

The Echo (god rest its soul) was supposed to appeal to a younger buyer than those who were frequenting Toyota showrooms. That didn’t quite work out either, and many “older folks” gravitated to the Echo’s odd shape and reasonable pricetag. The same thing has been happening to a degree with Toyota’s Scion brand, but hey, as long as somebody’s buying them, who’s going to complain too loudly? Toyota has decided, in its advertising, to once again try to lower its demographic age. You can tell not only from the television spots but from thumbing through the brochure. Take the audio system: It includes “An MP3 jack. Enough with the cassette players already.” Or the page on accessories, where you can “Personalize more than just license plates” with an assortment of wheels, tires, shocks and springs.

With a base price of just $11,050 for the hatchback with five-speed manual transmission ($11,925 for the sedan), and Toyota’s reputation for build quality, it’s no wonder dealers can’t keep the Yaris in stock. You didn’t really think they’d flop twice in a row, did you now?

More info: toyota.com.