Toyota Yaris Gazoo Hot Hatch CONFIRMED – aimed at the Fiesta ST

As it revealed the Yaris WRC in Helsinki today, a new Toyota Yaris Gazoo is confirmed as Toyota look to make a mark on the hot hatch market.

Toyota seem to have been invigorated by the woes of VW’s dieselgate, and seemed determined to reinvent itself whilst VW is on the back foot and fighting for a future with tens of billions of pounds of liabilities hanging over them

We’ve already seen stuff from Toyota like a new interest in electric cars- and plans for an EV range – more interest in dynamics and driver engagement, and new hybrid powertrains. And now it’s hot hatch time.

As it rolled out the Yaris WRC car in Helsinki today, Toyota announced it was planning a high performance Yaris – which we assume will be the Yaris Gazoo – using the experience gained from its return to the World Rally championship.

Clearly the Yaris Gazoo isn’t going to arrive with anything like the 375bhp of the WRC car, but it’s going to have to do a bit more than a Yaris hybrid.

If it’s going to take on the Fiesta ST, then the Yaris Gazoo is going to need to deliver around 200bhp as a starting point, which you’d expect to be delivered by a four-cylinder petrol turbo, handle terrifically, not cost a fortune and put a smile on your face.

Apart from the announcement it’s coming, and the sketch image above, Toyota has given no official information on the Yaris Gazoo, but it would seem about right to be thinking in terms of it arriving at the Geneva Motor Show in March – at least as a concept.