Toyota GR Yaris powers to News UK’s Hot Hatch of the Year title
Five years on from its arrival, the Toyota GR Yaris continues to set the bar for high-performance hatchbacks, winning the Hot Hatch of the Year title in the 2025 News UK Motor Awards.
The award is one of 17 significant honours the model has collected in the UK during its lifetime, sealing its status as one of Toyota’s most accomplished, successful and critically acclaimed sports cars. And while the road-going model has been enjoying its plaudits, the World Rally Championship model which directly inspired it has proved its all-conquering quality with three successive World Rally Championship manufacturer titles for Toyota Gazoo Racing and two driver’s titles for Kalle Rovanperä.
Announcing the award at News UK’s London headquarters last night, Rob Gill, Motors Editor at The Sun, said: “The rally-bred GR Yaris is already the darling of performance car fans, this Aero Performance version dials everything up to 11. Manually adjustable rear wing. Upright manual handbrake. Yes, please. I can’t stop smiling even thinking about it.”
The presentation came in the same week Toyota announced the UK sales launch of a new GR Yaris version, the GR Yaris Aero Performance. This introduces a package of extra aerodynamic features, developed by Toyota Gazoo Racing to give the car even better handling performance, with input from their professional race and rally drivers.
ENDS
