Toyota Australia has killed petrol versions of the popular Corolla and Yaris hatchbacks – and with them, the ability to hop into a new Toyota hatchback for less than $30,000.
Effective today, the only powertrain available on both cars will be a petrol-electric hybrid, as “consumer demand” swings away from traditional petrol power in favour of more efficient (and expensive) alternatives.
This doesn’t include the GR Yaris and GR Corolla, which will continue to come exclusively with turbocharged petrol power.
The move bumps the base price of the Yaris, once the cheapest Toyota in Australia, to $30,190 before on-road costs. That’s an increase of $5390 over the now-defunct Ascent Sport petrol which previously opened the range in Australia.
The Corolla hatch range now kicks off at $32,110 before on-roads, up from the $29,610 base price of the petrol Ascent Sport hatch killed today.
Corolla Hybrid 
Yaris Hybrid
If you’re willing to buy a sedan, however, the base price of a Corolla still scrapes in below $30k before on-roads.
In the Corolla, the 1.8-litre petrol hybrid powertrain makes 103kW of power and uses a claimed 4.0L/100km on the combined cycle. The now-defunct petrol uses a claimed 6.0L/100km.
The smaller Yaris uses a 1.5-litre petrol hybrid making 85kW of power, and is good for a claimed 3.3L/100km on the combined cycle – the petrol uses a claimed 4.9L/100km.
The move follows the death of the petrol-only C-HR and Yaris Cross SUVs, and the announcement the next-generation Camry sedan will come here only as a hybrid.
Hybrid-only C-HR 
Hybrid-only Camry
“We’ve advised their dealers that from today, we are no longer accepting orders for petrol variants of Yaris hatch and Corolla hatch. This is due to natural consumer demand,” Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing told media.
“There are no direct incentives, and there’s certainly no legislation. It’s driven by changing consumer behaviour – behaviour and choices that Toyota has played a significant role in encouraging.”
Mr Hanley poured cold water on the idea the end of the petrol-powered Yaris and Corolla hatches is down to the Federal Government’s impending New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which will financially punish carmakers if their average fleet CO2 emissions are over a set cap.
Toyota used its recent submission to the Federal Government to lobby for “measures similar to those that accompanied the introduction of fuel standards in the United States and many parts of Europe”.
“These include transitional arrangements, super credits, consumer support mechanisms and investment in recharging infrastructure to help foster the uptake of new technologies,” Mr Hanley said in a statement.
“Without these measures, the NVES risks leaving customers behind and leading to unintended consequences that could defeat the intent of the proposed standard.”
In its submission, Toyota calls on passenger vehicles to have different overall CO2 targets from large SUVs and utes, so that models like the LandCruiser 300 Series aren’t judged by the same standards as vehicles like the Corolla.
MORE: All the details about what Toyota wants from Australia’s fuel efficiency standards
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MORE: Everything Toyota Yaris
