Can the 2021 Toyota Yaris Play finally beat the City Hatchback's coolness?

Earlier this month, we ran a story about how the 2021 Honda City Hatchback may have already beaten the 2021 Toyota Yaris in terms of sheer coolness. Now, Toyota Motor Thailand fires back with this spunky Yaris Play variant.

A burst of colour

Much like its Toyota Yaris Ativ (Vios for us Malaysians) stablemate that also gets its own Play variant, the Yaris Play gets the same gloss black upper front grille and rear spoiler.

But there's one difference - the Yaris can be specified with a black roof, lending a rather nice contrast to the Ice Pink Metallic body colour.

Beyond that detail, the Yaris rolls on the same 15-inch, dual-tone brushed alloy/Dark Mulberry wheels. 

More two-tone goodness inside

Also shared with the Yaris Ativ is the funky dual-tone interior combination, featuring black-and-white leather seats with contrast Dark Mulberry stitching.

Breaking up the whole black-and-white scheme are Dark Mulberry and silver-coloured trim inserts.

The Yaris also comes with trunk organiser, vital for everyday millennial essentials such as extra clothing or even gym weights, for some reason.

Toyota has also included a medical-grade, PM 2.5 filter on the air-conditioning system. It's the same type of filter used in hospitals and in haze-filtering masks.

The Yaris Play also gets the 'Play Connect Car Telematics' system, with tracking, car diagnostics, and geofencing features just to name a few.

Cooler than City Hatchback?

Like the Yaris Ativ, the Yaris' 1.2-litre, naturally-aspirated four-cylinder mill (98 PS/109 Nm) and CVT combo remains unfettled. Yes, it's smaller than the Malaysian-specs 1.5-litre engine, mainly because it has to comply to Thailand's EcoCar regulations for lower taxes.

Anyway, the Yaris was the best-selling B-segment hatchback in Thailand in 2020, a lead the City Hatchback aims to eradicate in 2021. This is a battle that'll certainly go down to the wire, but we want to hear from you - what's your pick?