Update: Toyota reveals pricing for 2009 Yaris range

Update: Toyota has announcing pricing for its updated 2009 Yaris range, which now starts at $12,205 for the three-door Liftback model and tops out at $15,880 for the Sedan S model. The all-new five-door Liftback model prices range from $13,305 for the Base grade with a four-cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission to $15,125 for the S grade with a four-cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission. Base prices for the Yaris Sedan start at $12,965, which gets a four-cylinder model with a five-speed manual transmission.

All Yaris grades now come with a number of standard safety features, including anti-lock brake system (ABS) with Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), driver and front passenger front seat-mounted side airbags, and front and rear side curtain airbags. New exterior colors for the 2009 Yaris include Zephyr Blue, Blue Streak, Yellow Jolt and Carmine Red.

Estimated EPA fuel economy ratings are 29mpg (8.11L/100km) in the city and 35mpg (6.7L/100km) on the highway for automatic models. Fuel economy for manual models are rated at 29mpg (8.1L/100km) in the city and 36mpg (6.5L/100km) on the highway.

Original: Small cars are hot commodities in the increasingly price and efficiency-sensitive U.S. market, and Toyota is gearing up to take advantage of the shift. The five-door Yaris hatchback is already on sale in several other markets around the world, including Canada, but to date only the 3-door hatch and four-door sedan have seen U.S. sales.

Toyota is bringing the slightly bigger Yaris hatch to the U.S. to help broaden appeal of the affordable and efficient (34mpg city, 40mpg highway) range. The company has confirmed that the five-door Yaris will go on sale next month with pricing expected to be revealed closer to launch. For the 2009 calendar year, Toyota is projecting 130,000 Yaris sales, with the five-door accounting for about a third, reports Automotive News.

The company's sales have been falling off last year's pace over the past several months, but it is in a unique position to leverage its overseas products to bring quick and affordable solutions to the U.S., unlike most of its American counterparts.

"As the pendulum swings towards smaller, higher-mileage vehicles, we're well-poised to offer the right products at the right time," said TMS President Jim Lentz.

June sales at Toyota Division were down just over 10% compared to the same month last year. May sales were also down, although the company's Corolla and Camry moved into the top three in sales during that month.