BRAND NEW 2013 TOYOTA AURIS UNVEILED

Toyota has lifted the veil off the brand new 2013 Auris hatchback. New Auris, which goes on sale in South Africa before June 2013, will compete against leaders such as Hyundai i30, Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus among others. Expect it to feature prominently on people’s shopping lists from now on.

The Auris nameplate replaced the popular RunX in Mzansi. Unfortunately Toyota didn’t seem to market the car properly and even priced it out of its RunX roots. Subsequently it lost serious market share. With the new car Toyota has redesigned most areas to give it a sportier, even more aggressive look, especially on the front end. The new facia is already apparent in cars like the Yaris and Prius.

Auris measures 4.2 metres long, 1.76m wide, 1.46m high and has a wheelbase of 2.6m. That means it sits lower than its predecessor (which is still on the market). There should be a nice range of engines to accompany it, including the new hybrid motor, as well as other petrols and diesels. Can we please finally get a supercharged hot hatch version to challenge the current 180kW+ brigade? Thank you.