The Toyota Yaris may be an efficient way of getting from point A to point B, but it’s not exactly the roomiest car on the road. But despite its spatial shortcomings, Toyota engineers are convinced they can create a 7-passenger MPV out of a vehicle no bigger than a Yaris.
Toyota engineers learned a lot from building the iQ city car, and the Japanese automaker is looking to spread that knowledge to other Toyota vehicles. “We’re looking to transfer the clever engineering and packaging solutions to more Toyotas,†Toyota chief engineer Hiroki Nakajima told AutoExpress. “For example, we’re working on a seven-seater that’s the size of the Yaris.†Nakajima even claims his engineering team will be able to give the tiny MPV “limo-like legroom in the backâ€.
Thankfully, Toyota will also be using some of its engineering know-how to create some more practical models. Toyota is reportedly working on another 7-passenger MPV that would be based on the next-generation Prius. That hybrid MPV would use lithium-ion batteries and could be to market by 2012.
While we’d bet on the Prius-based MPV making it to the U.S. market if it ultimately gets the green light, we can’t exactly imagine Americans flocking to a Yaris-sized minivan.
