---
title: "Toyota Teases US-Bound Hot Hatch After Fans Demand GR Yaris"
description: "A spicy version of the current Corolla hatch would be mighty good."
date: "2020-05-08"
modified: "2020-05-08"
authors:
  - name: "James Gilboy"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/james-gilboy"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/33369/toyota-teases-us-bound-hot-hatch-after-fans-demand-gr-yaris"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Toyota News"
tags:
  - "compact"
  - "Hatchback"
  - "sports car"
  - "Toyota"
  - "Yaris"
---

# Toyota Teases US-Bound Hot Hatch After Fans Demand GR Yaris

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2020/05/EXaf9XoX0AQS_qG.jpeg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com\</em\>*

As much as American auto enthusiasts want the Toyota GR Yaris to come stateside, Toyota has made clear that the diminutive, homologation-special hatchback will, under no circumstances, be sold Stateside. Given [this country's collective distaste for tiny cars](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/33310/pickup-trucks-outsold-sedans-in-america-for-the-first-time-ever-this-april>), it's an understandable decision—one that still stings. But the pain Toyota giveth, it also taketh away, because on its twitter account Toyota hinted on Thursday that there may yet be a GR hot hatchback on the way—one potentially exclusive to America.

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1258369027803688960

"While GR Yaris isn't hitting the states… perhaps it's time the U.S. got a hot hatch to call its own," reads the tweet, for those if you with social media blockers.

Toyota's Executive Vice President of Sales [first alluded to this hot hatchback in February](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/32279/no-toyota-gr-yaris-for-america-console-yourself-with-a-performance-crossover-maybe>), though at the time, we believed Toyota's most probable "answer" to the model was some sort of performance CUV. Candidates then included a GR version of the next-gen C-HR and the newly announced [2021 Yaris Cross](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/33142/2021-toyota-yaris-cross-because-small-cars-are-crossovers-now>), which shares enough of its underpinnings with the Yaris that the GR variant's powertrain could—*at least theoretically*—be a shoe-in to the Yaris Cross.

But a couple of weeks back, an alternative entered the conversation in the form of [an alleged *caliente* Corolla Hatchback](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/33063/theres-a-toyota-corolla-hot-hatch-coming-to-america-report>), one sharing the 1.6-liter turbo-three with the GR Yaris, though in a milder 257-horse and 266-torque state of tune. Toyota's explicit reference to a "hot hatch" in its tweet lends credence to this rumor, which also suggested that the GR Corolla Hatchback could arrive as soon as 2022, and in the neighborhood of $30,000. It would come as a surprise, though, if such a car ended up being sold in America alone—it strikes us as the perfect rival to the [2020 Hyundai Veloster N](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/32977/2020-hyundai-veloster-n-review-a-hot-hatch-that-forgets-its-a-daily-driver-too>) and the [2021 Volkswagen Golf GTI](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/32380/the-2021-volkswagen-golf-gti-still-rocking-a-six-speed-and-plaid-seats>).

May the hatchback clash begin, and may the best car win.

*Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com*

## Author
James is a former staff writer for The Drive. He has changed the conversation around electrification, debunked misinformation online, and become a prominent hunter of what he calls "automotive cryptids."

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/jamesgilboy>)