Toyota has confirmed it will show this new facelifted Auris at the Geneva motor show on 3 March – a kind of halfway-through-its-life pep-me-up for the Golf wannabe.
It’s a minor cosmetic nip ‘n’ tuck for the hatchback and estate range, but more change is promised under the skin.
So what’s new for 2015?
It’s a similar facelift to that dished out upon the bigger Avensis range at Geneva. There’s no X-face for the Auris (this is seemingly reserved for the smaller Toyotas) but there is a new grille featuring extra chrome and a reprofiled lower air intake area.
We doubt it’s enough to pique interest of many car enthusiasts, but then to make that assumption is to misread the target audience of the Auris range.
We suspect most typical Toyota owners will appreciate the gently tided-up interior and the range of new engines, led by a 1.2-litre turbo for the first time. Good for lower CO2 and higher mpg, we’re told, although no official figures are yet published.
What about the Auris hybrid?
The hybrid continues, for sure. After all, the petrol-electric model accounted for half of all Aurises sold in Europe in 2014.
Both bodystyles – the five-door hatch and Touring Sports estate – are given the facelift treatment and they’ll continue to be built at the Burnaston factory in Derbyshire, England.
With only a couple of facelifts, it sounds like the Geneva show will be a quieter affair for the Japanese giant. But fret not: a new Toyota Prius – the fourth generation, no less – is due at the Frankfurt motor show in autumn 2015. And that’ll be big news indeed…