Following the cancellation of Rally Australia due to the ongoing wild fires, Toyota announced the postponement of the GR Yaris prototype’s global reveal which was originally set for November 17.
The debut was scheduled to take place at Rally Australia, with Toyota releasing a teaser image of a camouflaged Yaris prototype that featured the ‘GR-4’ moniker. The Japanese car maker will announce its plans for the reveal on a later date.
Related: Toyota Teases GR Yaris Hot Hatch, Will Debut On November 17
The ongoing fires around Coffs Harbour in New South Wales meant that the final round of the WRC inevitably had to be canceled, with local authorities urging members of the public to donate money in support of the affected communities.
“The Toyota team is devastated to see this disaster in our communities and want to ensure we lend a hand to support those who are affected at this time, which is why we and our parent company in Japan are pleased to provide a quarter of a million dollars to the Australian Salvation Army,” Toyota Australia President Matthew Callachor said.
Toyota also encouraged people to donate to one of the many aid organizations on the ground, such as the Salvation Army.
The upcoming Toyota Yaris ‘GR-4’ implies that the new hot hatch will feature all-wheel drive in addition to blistered arches as shown in the teaser image and our previous spy shots. This falls in line with Gazoo Racing’s plans to offer models that are more directly related to their motorsport activities, in this case rallying.
We still don’t know what kind of powerplant Toyota is going to use in the high-performance Yaris but the previous-gen Yaris GRMN used a supercharged 1.8-liter inline-four with 209 HP.