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Toyota will drop the Matrix hatchback for 2014, leaving them without a compact hatchback. The Matrix, jointly developed with General Motors, never set the world on fire, and Toyota didn’t even break out its sales figures from the Corolla, making it tough to gauge its popularity. Perhaps we’ll get the much more attractive Corolla hatchback in the future.
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Considering these are cockroach-ubiquitous in Canada, I wonder if this’ll be another Rondo/Orlando white-north-only special.
Here in the Midwest US, I see many of the older body style (and Pontiac Vibes), and almost zero newer ones (or G3’s).
welcome back psar.
I know Cnaucks love hatchbacks, but why this one? It’s such a dud. I owned the first Matrix, a Solar Yellow XRS. Now that was a sweet ride. Toyota phoned this one in. But for some reason, Canadians eat it up. I lived in the Great White NOrth for 17 years. I know there are plenty of odd things y’all do. Comparing best selling cars of the 2 countries (as goodcarbadcar does) is so revealing of the differing tastes of people that are otherwise so similar.
I wonder if a lot of it is local production. Canadians are a proud group. That might explain why Chryslers sell so well there too.
I’d be very sad for you if Toyota kept foisiting these on Canadians. Maybe they could import Aurises instead. (But they wouldn’t be locally produced, so there would go my theory, hmmm.)
It will. It will continue on in Canada for 2014. There were even articles a year back saying that they’re mulling designing a replacement just for Canada.
My parents drive an 06. Quality issues aside the car was a great replacement for the voyager as a haul alot of crap car. The cargo area is wipe down plastic and the passenger seat folds flat. They even had a 4wd model.
when the second gen debuted I knew Toyota blew it. The interior was cheaper, the back glass didn’t open. It was just too many steps back for people to look past.
And is it just me, or does the second-gen Vibe look significantly smaller than its processor?
Having spent much time driving and being a passenger in a (1st gen) 2005 Vibe and then having test driven a 2nd gen Vibe, I’d say it didn’t shrink inside, it just got more “bunker-like”. Which stunk.
Naah, just the windows.
It looks smaller and it feels smaller because the interior is more invasive, but I don’t think the 2nd gen really is smaller.
Should be some excellent deals coming on these indestructible little grocery-getters.
Otherwise it’s been overpriced by about 3 K and rendered irrelevant by the Korean hatches whose quality is now at least equal.
Quoting Zap Brannigan, “What I want to know is Why?!….Why should I care?” The Matrix was a good idea that grew long in the tooth.
Most interesting, the Toyota build-it website lists the 2014 Matrix as having only one exterior color choice and no options other than a power sunroof (though it does mention AWD is ‘available’).
Cue Darth Vader “NOOOOOOOO”
Yes the Corolla hatchback, which Clarkson drove for about 35 minutes on one episode of Top Gear – and never commented on the ride, interior, handling qualities, or anything else. I’ve become very disillusioned with that show over the past 3 years or so.
Hey, he drove TWO of ’em. The way he was driving, one wasn’t enough to make it the whole way.
Also, I agree that Top Gear is simply not as good as it used to be. But there’s always Netflix (at least in America), where you can watch some of the better earlier seasons when they actually did perform tests of reasonably-priced cars. Heck, James May was first brought on to talk about used car deals!
All his crashes were intentional though, which made it more annoying. The show has just started to pander to anyone and everyone to get a wider audience. So many people were watching the show and will buy that very car, and he said nothing.
Particularly offensive was the parcour vs. dirt bike segment – which James hosted but didn’t even PARTICIPATE in. Why was he there? Plus, it was so obviously set up, with views from the front of the dirt bike showing tire marks already in the hallways. And the runners jumping through some set up safety glass, as James commented how unsafe it was.
The last few seasons everything car driving related seemed very put on and made for the lowest common denominator viewer. Id rather watch that ass monkey show, they seem to play up and not care what the viewer think of them.
Which show are you talking about?
The wife and I used to have a Pontiac Vibe, and stupid name aside, it was a great little car. Reliable, well built, relatively fun to drive, and didn’t look half bad in my opinion.
That was a great car. Now look at all the imitations Subaru Crosstrek, Buick Encore. The original Vibe was very good but itwould eat into the SUV sales. That’s why GM has the Encore with a smaller engine, and it could be argued Toyota has the Prius which is now their sole hatchback. It could be argued that a well built, well designed, reliable simple to maintain hatchback would eat into the Prius sales as well.
The Matrix being discontinued?
For shame!
If only it was a manual – some of them were, but add a turbo-diesel and paint it brown? Voila’!
You have a winner!
“Toyota will drop the Matrix hatchback for 2014, leaving them without a compact hatchback.”
No compact hatchback not named Prius, anyway.
The Prius rear roofline is so low it’s an honorary sedan.
I’m assuming the Yaris is considered a sub-compact and the IQ a micro-compact?
No contest there. The xD too, if it actually still exists.
You’re forgetting Prius V.
Is that a compact hatchback? I think of it as of a wagon.
Well, Prius C, then. No matter how you move the goalposts, Toyota has you covered :-)
“The Prius rear roofline is so low it’s an honorary sedan.”
++ And the front sux, too. When I drive my son’s Prius the visual cone available to me is 70% A-pillars, RVM and dashboard; 30% external reality.
My 4’11” wife was recently smitten in the showroom by a “summer rain metallic” Prius C. Of course for her, almost nothing on the market is blind and claustrophobic (except to the rear – as for everyone else). She can actually see *under* RVMs.
It’s a glorious time to be tiny.
“leaving them without a compact hatchback.”
What an odd thing to say.
CT,TC,IQ,FRS,XB,XD,yaris,Prius,PriusC,PriusV.
Yup – Yaris hatch and xD will fill the gap (poorly). 03-08 was a good car. 2nd gen has been awful and the sales reflect that.
But yes, hopefully a next gen Corolla hatch will make its way over.
Most of those are subcompacts and hybrids. The FRS however is not a hatch, yes I know it looks like the back can open like a 90’s F-body or eclipse but it has a traditional trunk.
“The FRS however is not a hatch”
sorry, my bad. strike that car from the list.
It should prolly not even be considered a Toyota anyway, with its 10 mile long list of problems that it come with when a person buys it anyway.
The FRS’s lack of hatch-ness and lack of turbo-ness took it off my list a long time ago.
The general lack of hatches in the market upsets me highly (ex-Civic hatch owner). Now that my wife is living the hatch life with a car nobody buys (Volvo C30) she agrees: hatches rule, trunks drool.
True to an extent, however since current xB is exactly the same car, only with a different body, it’s going to be discontinued simultaneously.
I didn’t know they were still making the Matrix. I thought it was discontinued years ago.
On the latest ones, the rear window looks like it came from a microwave oven.
Yes try backing one up without a spotter. It requires great faith, fortitude, and well adjusted mirrors.
Or a cheap back-up camera.
For people here in Canada it was a great Vehicle, could carry a lot of stuff and good on Petrol too, it will be missed.
I’ll have my 3 box gasoline sedan in which ever color, black, white or preferably grey you choose to sell me, and, yes I will take the big truck thanks.
Choices? who needs ’em?
Hard to believe that these things are a sales flop considering how many of them you see here in Vancouver. It’s the car for RAV4 people who don’t want to drive on stilts. However, I do agree that they mucked up Gen 2, the rear visibility is atrocious, and the care looks bloated next to the Gen 1, and positively elephantine next to the Gen 1 Vibe.
As an avid reader, and close follower of the automotive industry, I have the only logical reaction possible: “They still made those?”
+1 I saw one today identical to the one in the picture and because of this article I knew more about it then I wanted to, but luckily I have since forgotten
I think Toyota was really on to something with the first Matirx. It and the Vibe were hot little numbers (in XRS or GT trim). Or economical, practical runabouts in base trim. And they were sharp looking. They came out at a time when a few maufacturers were willing to dabble back into hatchbakcs. The Focus ZX5, Elantra GT and Mazda Protege5 come to mind. I thought the XRS was the best of the bunch, and since I’ve always preferred hatches and Toyotas, I bought a sweet Solar Yellow XRS. I loved everything except the Pontiac stereo.
Now I’ve read other sites lamenting that Toyota is abandoning the hatch market just as it heats up. But as others have pointed out, Toyota really has that market covered from iQ and Yaris all the way up through Prius V and Rav4. The current homely Matrix just didn’t make sense here. And unfortunately, the Auris wouldn’t either. Just too much overlap. the xD may go away, but the xB will likley have some kind of hatch replacement. And all the rest will remain. It’s a lot of hatches.
Now what I wouldn’t do for a Camry hybrid hatch. (Don’t judge.)
“Now what I wouldn’t do for a Camry hybrid hatch.”
I love you.
I noticed your avatar, get a new car?
No, a new Cause. I am Mediocre Man.
Guardian of the Good Enough, Champion of the Cheap. Apostle of Appliances.
I am come unto thee in the guise of a man that ye shall Rejoice in How Far We’ve Come and groveleth not beneath the Orbs of Moloch, defamer of all that is Adequate and Solid.
Every man needs a purpose…. I think I have some extra beige lying around, I’ll send it
If I may comment, your moniker needs to change then. As I am sure you well know, “summicron” was Leica camera’s name for its f/2 35 and 50mm lenses for its M-series rangefinder cameras, which some believe were the best 35mm cameras ever made (at least for grab and snap shots). And, having used the 50 mm version back in the 1960s, I would say that calling the lens “summa” was no exaggeration.
A washer and a dryer are not a summicron. May I suggest “kelvinator” as your new moniker to go with the photos? :-)
Yeah… old obsessions… had a religious experience first time I rolled Kodachrome behind the Summi on my M-4.
Guess I’ll have to create another account to fit my new responsibilities to Humankind.
I’m thinking Sears Kenmore…
Moloch? That name does ring a bell. You are a brave man not to grovel.
@Aleister
I thought Moloch was a good entity to blame for the accursed simian status-seeking inherited by most humans.
Guess I could have just as well used Nancy Pelosi or Piers Morgan, but some antiquity seemed called for.
Hmm… still could have gone with Pelosi…
Whats the difference between Moloch and Pelosi?
Depends on which depiction of Moloch you dredge up.
In some he kinda has boobs, too. But I’ve never seen him with plastic surgery.
I thought the Camry hatchback was known as the Venza. If correct, it’s puzzling why there isn’t a Venza hybrid since there’s been a Camry hybrid for years.
While I’m not particularly interested in a non-hybrid Venza, I might give a hybrid version a look.
I like Venzas by default, but a true Camry hatch wouldn’t have the ride heght, AWD, and all the other goodies that add bulk, weight and a huge price tag to the car. A hybrid would be sweet, but at the weight of a Venza, it would have to be the 3.5L HIghlander hybrid set up. Not that that would be a bad thing at all. I just wouldn’t be able to afford it.
Like this one!!!
http://www.parts-specs.com/photos/0706866-Toyota-Camry-2.5-GXEi-1988.jpg
ahhhh, the camry hatch I learned to drive on. Much cooler than the standard 4 door. Ours was just as brown, but it had cool alloy wheels and the flush mounted headlghts of the mid cycle refresh. still awaiting its return (in hybrid form, natch).
“http://www.parts-specs.com/photos/0706866-Toyota-Camry-2.5-GXEi-1988.jpg”
Oh, What a Feeling!
I rented one a few months ago. Perfectly serviceable vanilla appliance. Seriously, I walked away not remembering a thing.
Gen I, especially the Vibe, were much better.
The 1st generation is all over the place. The 2nd gen was a huge dud and they completely blew it. My dealer had two 2011s still on the lot until recently, although they still wanted full asking price for them. I hope they bring the Auris eventually because it looks to be a great car, but they’ll use their stupidity in the Gen 2 Matrix to justify not bringing it.
Once I rented a 1st generation S version and found it to be a fairly enjoyable small wagon. Sadly they dropped the performance version XRS 6 speed with 180 hp and never offered AWD with the stick. They could have poached some Subaru Impreza, Outback and WRX buyers if they offered a full model range. Or folks who traded in their trusty old Tercel SR-5 or Corolla All-trac wagons for Subaru’s. Another reason why Toyota has gone beige.
I’ve always found it sort of bewildering that Toyota could take the same basic pieces, assemble them in the same factory, and give us both one of the most depressing automotive experiences going today (the Corolla), and something that’s actually half-decent (the Matrix). I don’t know if it was because the Matrix skipped the mouse fur uphostery, came painted in something that could actually be described as “colour,” or just by being a hatchback, but even the step-backwards second gen is a passable car. So, yes, chalk me up as another Canuck hoping to see some form of compact Toyota hatch (with manual) here in the next couple years. I mean, other than the several other choices Toyota currently offers.
Even tho I have found most Pontiac styling in recent decades absolutely awful , I thought the Vibe was at least a much better looking car than the Matrix . A neighbor had one , she always called it ” the Mandrix “.
My boss has a 2003 Matrix and she likes it. Not a car I’d drive, but the first generation models seem to be popular here in Maine. The second generation ones are not very common around here.
Purchased a Matrix the first year it came out – 2003 model, bought 10/02. Used it as a commuter car and quickly racked up 120k miles.
Gave the car to my daughter when she went off to college. She did her very best trying to destroy it – couple of accidents, 4+ years in the Fresno CA sun – and failed.
Now it soldiers on as my second car when I can’t/don’t feel like riding my bike to work. Looks like crap but still runs great and costs very little in upkeep. Has over 150k miles on it now.
Overall Toyota had a great car yet, they did very little to advertise/push the car out to the public. Yet, they still sold a fair number of them. I see them all the time here in So Cal