Toyota has officially revealed a brand new compact crossover dubbed the Yaris Cross today. It was expected to make global premiere at the 2020 Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland but the cancellation of the exhibition led to the postponement of many unveils. The new SUV will sit below the global Toyota C-HR.
Toyota has just unveiled its latest compact SUV for the Japanese and European markets, the Toyota Yaris Cross. It is essentially a Yaris hatchback that has been re-engineered into a bigger SUV
For context, that’s 240mm longer, 20mm wider and 90mm taller than the Yaris hatch with which the Yaris Cross shares its ‘GA-B’ platform, with 30mm of the aforementioned height increase down to jacked-up ride height. Locally, it’s expected to appear on the sales charts as part of the newly-formed light SUV class.
As for the performance, the Toyota Yaris Cross derives power from the same 1.5-liter petrol engine connected to an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack. The three-cylinder unit develops a maximum power output of 79 bhp and 139.7 Nm of peak torque to form a hybrid system.
The hybrid technology helps in the compact crossover running on electricity at lower speeds. The Japanese manufacturer will offer two-wheel-drive as standard and an all-wheel-drive configuration as an option. The Toyota Yaris Cross rides on the flexible TNGA-B platform as the Yaris.
The company has positioned the Yaris Cross below the C-HR and the exterior does not resemble the hatchback a whole lot. Despite the bulbous appearance as the Yaris, the Cross has a futuristic design with a busy front fascia you would be hard-pressed to find in another Yaris SUVs. It comes with a sleek headlamp cluster comprising of an integrated LED Daytime Running Lights.
The C-shaped housing for the vertical fog lamps and sporty cuts and creases add to the dynamic character of the Yaris Cross. The roof and B-pillars are finished in black shade bringing a dual-tone appearance while the sharp turn signals, raked windshield, horizontal LED tail lamps with black surrounds, squared shaped black wheel arches and alloy wheels are other highlights.
Two transmission options will be offered – a 6-speed manual and a CVT gearbox. The company also claims that the combustion engine has a thermal efficiency of 40 percent when powering the front wheels.
When will the Toyota Yaris Cross go on sale
The Toyota Yaris Cross is expected to go on sale in Japan this year and in Europe by mid-2021.