I have experience with Yaris Ativ X CVT-i, and I have seen many criticise the exterior. Yaris is basically Corolla Axio in disguise since both share the same platform. Many have criticised the car's height, thinking it ruined the car. In reality, it's so helpful in cities like Karachi, especially dealing with stupid "speed breakers", yet it handles very well even though I only drove up to 100 km/h.
The few issues I had were you'll start to have pain in the shoulders after driving for more than 30 minutes despite properly setting the seat. Another is during the daytime, the panel below the speedometer always reflects on the meter, making it difficult to read, and the rear windscreen gets reflected by the beige surface below it. Despite all this, it's probably the best compact sedan for cities like Karachi.
As for the other cars within this budget, even though I never drove them.
If you're concerned about safety and space, get a Swift GLX despite it having a Jatco CVT transmission, unless you religiously change its OEM fluid and filters on time, no matter what they cost.
If you're a big Honda fan, get a Honda City Aspire CVT or even a used 2019 or newer Civic X if you really trust the seller and your mechanic.
Changan Alsvin seems like a good car, but I cannot guarantee its reliability and parts availability in the future despite many seen on the roads.
As for JDMs, I would never recommend buying those anymore unless you 100000% trust the seller and your mechanic, especially if you and they really know about hybrids. Otherwise, you'll be cursing like you never cursed before.
As for fuel economy, in a city's stop and go traffic, no matter what car it is and how much is taken care of, you'll never get more than 10~13 km/l unless it's a Kei car or hybrid. On highways, you can get at least 15 km/l, and you could get almost 20 km/l or higher if you're driving it around 100 km/h.
