And local buyers should no longer be surprised at seeing car models for the next year being launched in the last quarter of the current anno domini. They should be used to the standard industry practice of beginning and ending model years in August or September. It’s done worldwide. Maybe it has something to do with marketing. Or accounting. We’ll be asking Bong Barrameda about that sometime soon.

We can’t blame Toyota either. It’s the toughest job to improve on something that in its reckoning is the best thing that happened to the subcompact market in years. After all, by its count, the 2005 Vios is the best-selling sedan in its category, grabbing 48 percent of the market and averaging 700 units a month, counting the vehicles parked on crowded dealership back lots that are already counted as sold. Hey, you try improving on perfection.

Certainly, Toyota did its best to make the 2006 Vios new and exciting at the launch. Lots of pretty models to welcome jaded motoring journalists. Good food. Diminutive dancers dipped in silver to present next year’s Vios today. A video presentation packed with voiceovers that scoured the Thesaurus for synonyms to the words new, exciting, and dynamic.

Again, blame it on age, eyesight dimmed by diabetes, or just a really poor aptitude for auto details. But we had to squint hard and cup our ear during the video presentation to appreciate the new, the fresh, the re-positioned in the 2006 Vios.

And thanks to the press release of the launch, we know the Vios has a lot of things new. Let’s count the word new in the following:

". . . a new flat-mesh (grille) design with a more prominent and luxurious chrome trim. . . . new and attractive yet useful pair of headlamps that combine with the newly repositioned turn signal lamps and new round-design foglamps to give the new Toyota Vios an even more head-turning appeal.

". . . Bigger and more stylish new seven-spoke 185/60R 15-inch alloy wheels and wider low-profile rubber that not only give the top-of-the-line Vios 1.5G an even sportier look, but also enhance its cornering capabilities on the road for that higher fun-to-drive element.

". . . The Vios 1.3E variant has also been endowed with a striking new eight-spoke-design 14-inch alloy wheel . . . New chrome strips on the doors’ side mouldings . . . side turn signal lamps that have been added to the front fenders to make turns and lane changes even safer.

". . . A new rear combination lamp design with a unique 3D Reflex Reflector . . .

"Inside its spacious and extremely well-appointed cabin. . . the rich new seat fabric material made with an eye-catching accent color. . . . the driver now enjoys a seat height adjuster. . . . a console box lid for greater convenience and a front passenger seat undertray for extra storage . . .

"Audiophiles will revel in the superb sound from the Vios 1.5G’s new Fujitsu-Ten 2-DIN audio system that plays CDs and MP3s. . .

"A change in the color shade of the 1.5G’s digital instrument cluster display. . .

"A new addition to the Vios’ generous and class-leading list of world-class safety features like the Global Outstanding Assessment (GOA), ABS-equipped brakes with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, a reinforced cabin with side-impact beams, head impact protection, whiplash injury-lessening seats, and front and rear 3-point ELR seatbelts.

You know, the press release sounds much like the voiceover. Must have been written by the same scriptwriter.

Well, that’s enough fun with the new. The Vios still comes in two engine variants, a 1.5-liter powerplant generating 107 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 142 Newton-meters of torque at 4,200 rpm and a 1.3-liter engine developing 85 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 122 Newton-meters of torque at 4,400 rpm. Both boast Toyota’s Variable Valve Timing-intelligent or VVTi technology.

While we’re not that excited by what’s new in the Vios, we still believe Toyota will sell a lot of the 2006 model in the New Year. To the mind of local buyers, there’s nothing more reassuring than buying a Toyota vehicle. No use trying to explain why. It just is.