Published on : 02 September 20193 min reading time

On sale from March 2011, the new Verso-S marks Toyota’s return to the B-segment MPV market, a niche it created itself with the Yaris Verso in 1999.

This segment has almost tripled in volume since 2002, a growth driven by the decrease in displacement and which affects an increasingly diversified clientele, largely conquered by the interior modularity and cargo space offered by a minivan.

This increase in the segment’s power is attributable to families who are abandoning the classic B-segment sedans, but also and above all to parents whose older children have left and seniors who are dropping out of the M1 segment. For them, a B-segment MPV is not just a rational purchase, essential to make the most of their leisure time: it must also offer the levels of habitability, comfort, equipment and quality they have experienced in a higher segment car.

The new Toyota mini-space is the shortest vehicle in the segment and is less than 4 m long, making it easy to drive in urban areas. However, meticulous attention to every detail of its interior, practical and modular, has made it possible to optimise habitability, comfort and perceived quality.

As a result, the Verso-S offers good headroom in the front seats, ease in the rear seats and trunk space that rivals cars in the compact segment (M1). Exclusive to the segment, a mechanism that can be operated from the trunk allows the 60/40 split rear seats to be retracted with a single movement. The trunk itself has a removable and easily adjustable floor at two heights, which optimizes its modularity.

Another exclusive feature for B-segment MPVs and Toyota’s first, the Toyota Touch 6.1″ (15 cm) colour touchscreen multimedia system offers a very complete interface. Comes standard with Dynamic finish, it includes an AM/FM car radio, CD/MP3 player, Bluetooth connectivity for mobile phones, USB port for connecting portable music players, on-board computer display and rear-view camera.

From May 2011, a Touch & Go navigation system will be available as an option, at the best quality/price ratio on the market. It will have all the most popular functions, such as high-performance traffic coverage, customizable speed limits and fixed radar signalling.

Thanks to a compatible Bluetooth mobile phone, the system provides access to Google’s local search. Via Google Maps, it is possible to define remote destinations, from home or the office for example, and to set downloaded points of interest as destinations.

Versatile and very affordable, the Touch & Go multimedia system designed by Toyota can be updated and receive the latest features without the need to modify its multimedia base module. During 2011, new features will be added to obtain fuel prices, weather reports and available parking spaces. Other applications will be released later and will be accessible via an Internet portal.

The lightest and most fuel-efficient of the B-segment MPVs, the new Verso-S is available with a 1.33-litre dual VVT-i petrol engine or a 1.4-litre D-4D turbo diesel engine, both of which are exemplary in terms of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

The petrol version can be equipped with an optional MultiDrive S gearbox with a seven-speed sequential mode with paddle shift-on-the-wheel selection, the very first continuously variable transmission in the segment.