Yaris Five-Door Gets Pricing, But No Five Speed Manual: Are Old People Responsible For This?

It's bittersweet news here in the ACATT newsroom. The long hoped for five-door Yaris will be arriving in U.S. dealerships, but you won't find any manual transmissions under the tree. Previously the Yaris was available in a three-door liftback and four door sedan. Only the liftback was available with a manual transmission. It had been my hope than when the five-door arrived, it would also have the three-door's manual. Sadly, the extra set of doors will also require you to let the four speed automatic do the shifting for you.

Before posting, I spoke with Denise Morrissey, Toyota Division Communications Administrator, to confirm that the five-door would only be available as an automatic. Denise confirmed that this was the case, but couldn't provide any further information as to why or if the five-door would someday get the manual.

It had been my belief that Toyota originally skipped the five-door because they didn't want it to compete with the Scion xD. Automotive News has speculated (sub req) that one of the reasons that Toyota reversed its decision on the five-door was to pull older buyers out of the xD and into the Yaris. Anyone who is young or young at heart will still have to get the bulldog-faced xD if they want a five-speed manual.

I'm not sure what the take rate on the manual is, but it seems to me that hatchback buyers are the type of customer who would prefer such an option no matter how many doors the car may have.

Model Year 2009 Yaris pricing for the various models is as follows:

Yaris three-door Liftback models range from $12,205 for the Base grade with four cylinder engine and manual five-speed transmission to $14,825 for the S grade with four cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission.

Yaris five-door Liftback model prices range from $13,305 for the Base grade with four cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission to $15,125 for the S grade with four cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission.

Yaris Sedan model pricing ranges from $12,965 for the Base grade with four cylinder engine and manual five-speed transmission to $15,880 for the S grade with four cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission.

I want to explain the "old people" comment a bit further. Scion is really trying to appeal to the 18 to 34-year-old crowd and would prefer to see older buyers head to Toyota or Lexus. Since I'm 36 37, I consider myself in the "old people" category (at least as far as marketers are concerned).