Okay, so no serious synergy between my two loves for the upcoming year. It seems as if the only real Yaris presence at SXSW 2011 will be in the parking lots. The official sponsors include Chevrolet, so go ahead and get your conspiracy theories spinning…but in reality, it’s just been a tough time for Toyota all around.
Not so tough that the new, re-designed Yaris won’t be a greeted with open arms for it’s slightly bigger, slightly roomier cabin and storage (although we’re still well within the subcompact range, so still not ideal for Toros carpooling!). The body is definitely a bit sportier, and looks good in red.
The third-generation Yaris will be available later in 2011, which is fine because I won’t have any money to spare for a month or so when my mortgage refinancing is completed. Hopefully this will be before SXSW, but it’ll be close.
This year’s SXSW highlights for me includes the usual billion or so bands that I’ve never heard of (which boil down to at least two or three pleasant surprises, usually!), and of course a bit of nostalgia with Stone Temple Pilots and Corrosion of Conformity (yep, summer of 91, cue And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead…who, unfortunately, AREN’T playing this year). Oh, and Barry Diller. Hmm.