Toyota South Africa Motors says the new GR Yaris hot hatch is “likely” to launch locally only in 2021.

After the reveal of the three-door, all-paw hot hatch in January 2020, the Japanese firm’s SA division told CARmag.co.za it had “requested the local introduction” of the GR Yaris, adding it was "currently under study”.

Now, however, Toyota SA says a “local introduction is most likely only going to be [in] 2021”.

The company was responding to a question we posed about local launch timing after we spotted the GR Yaris on Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s website (we’ve embedded a screenshot below), which listed the hot hatch as “launching soon”.

Interestingly, the website furthermore suggests the SA-spec version  – which is shown alongside the GR Supra and Hilux GR Sport – will feature the full-fat 200 kW output offered in Japan, rather than the 192 kW featured in European-spec models.

However, Toyota SA told us it doesn’t “have confirmation of [the] power level at this stage”.

As a reminder, the new GR Yaris employs a turbocharged 1,6-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine offering 192 kW/360 N.m in European spec and 200 kW/370 N.m in Japanese spec. Toyota says the hot hatch will hit 100 km/h from standstill in “less than 5,5 seconds”.

Although it's far too early to talk about local pricing, Toyota has released prices for key European markets...

Original article from Car