What is going on with Toyota's pricing? Will the Yaris GR's first-in-best-dressed policy backfire?

If you’ve been following the Toyota story recently, you’ll have noticed the brand’s pricing is largely heading in one direction - and that direction is up.

From the new Toyota HiLux (prices increased by up to $3160), to the all-new Yaris (a price jump of almost $7000 for the cheapest model), to the re-priced RAV4, LandCruiser and Corolla - all of which have also increased this year, albeit by smaller amounts.

Toyota insists that, at least in the case of the Yaris, it’s not a move to reposition the vehicle - or the brand - into a more premium space, but is instead simply reflective of the increased equipment, safety gear and engineering that is required for each new model.

Whatever the reason, sticker prices are undoubtedly heading north. Except, that is, when they head south, at least temporarily. And we’re talking, of course, about the GR Yaris.

The brand’s first fully home-grown, fire-breathing performance car in what feels like an eternity is very good. We said as much in our reviews, while also predicting it would be very expensive when it made to Australia.

As it turns out, on that latter point, we were half right. While the “base” (for want of a better word) GR Yaris wears a recommended retail price of $49,500 plus on-road costs, the first 1000 shoppers could have theirs for just $39,950 drive-away - a saving of at least $10k.

Too slow for the first offer? The next 100 customers could have one for $44,950 drive-away - a $5k penalty for not being quicker to drop your deposit cheque.

You’ll be unsurprised to hear that the first batch of 1000 cars shifted in a week. The second batch of 100 units? That took closer to seven weeks, with buyers clearly not as desperate to spend $5k over on what was, a mere week ago, a significantly cheaper car.

Missed out on both those deals? Then you’re stuck paying full retail, or $49,500 plus on-road costs, and you'll be waiting for stock to arrive.

The more hardcore Rallye version got similar, if a little less extreme, treatment, with the first 200 units going for $56,200 drive-away, moving to its full retail of $54,500 plus on-road costs when they’re gone.

For its part, Toyota Australia’s sales and marketing chief Sean Hanley says it was a clear decision to fuel interest and inject excitement into the brand.

“I’ll put it bluntly. We want to ignite the market,” he says. “It’s a significant investment in our GR brand, in our GR Yaris and in our customers.”

But there’s another way to look at it, and that is that anyone who missed out on that offer is getting one hell of a raw deal, and might well feel burnt by the situation. Toyota insists that the GR Yaris is a “$50,000 car”. But it’s not. Not yet. So far, it’s been a $39,950 drive-away car, then a $44,950 drive-away car. How successful it will be at its new pricing level is something for which we’ll have to wait and see.

Anyone who does drop $50,000 on it does so knowing that the person pulling up to them might have gotten a $10,000 (or more) better deal on their new ride - something that’s sure to take some of the fun out of owning a new performance vehicle.

Or to put it another way, if you were faced with buying a new GR Yaris for $49,500 plus on-road costs, or a second-hand one from that first batch of 1000 cars for $45k, which would you choose?

To be fair, Toyota rarely gets it wrong, and we might well be proven incorrect on this. But for ours, it’s hard to immediately think of another experience where someone buying a brand-new performance vehicle can have their enthusiasm dampened before they even take delivery of their car.