Toyota Discontinues Yaris in the U.S.

There will be no more Toyota Yaris in the United States after the 2020 model year.

The Japanese automaker announced that both the sedan and hatchback versions of the model will be discontinued and that production will end this month.

A report by CarBuzz cites a corporate memo that was leaked on Reddit but has since been deleted.

“The Yaris sedan and Yaris hatchback will not be available for model year 2021,” the memo, addressed to dealers and general managers, stated.

The Toyota Yaris, which was based on the Mazda 2 subcompact, has been in production in the U.S. since 2007. But the latest decision from the automaker ends the model’s 14-year run in the American market and leaves the C-HR crossover as the company’s lone entry to the subcompact segment.

The Yaris’ exit is being attributed to slow sales and new regulations put in place by industry regulators.

“The entry-subcompact segment has new regulations that require additional homologation. Those regulations, coupled with declining sales in the segment, are some of the reasons behind the decision,” a representative for Toyota confirmed.

In 2019, subcompact sales in the U.S. became evidently low. Toyota, for example, sold a total of 21,917 units of the Yaris, which is about 5,000 fewer than 2018 and down by 80,411 from its peak sales numbers in 2008. Other models in the segment such as the Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, and Nissan Versa also registered a decline.

The coronavirus pandemic may have also affected Toyota’s decision. In a recent Reuters report, the automaker was quoted saying it will limit vehicle production in North America by up to 29% this year due to lack of demand and continuing supply chain issues. The Toyota Yaris is built in a Mazda factory in North America.