Toyota has now also launched the Corolla Cross in Japan. Very interesting. But what turns out? Toyota has given its SUV its own unique look, especially for the Japanese market.
It could very well be that you do not have the Corolla Cross clearly on your retina. After all, the Corolla Cross is already a year old and is not yet available in Europe. In fact, you should think of the Corolla Cross as the SUV sibling of the Corolla, a model that occupies a place between the C-HR and the RAV4 in Toyota’s international model range. Toyota is now also marketing the Corolla Cross in its home country of Japan, although it looks different there than the international version.
Toyota Corolla Cross (Japan)
That starts with the logos. Toyota has designed its own badges for various model lines. For example, the Crown and the Alphard and Vellfire have their own logos in the grille, the same goes for the Corolla. Although, the Corolla is a stubborn thing in this one. The Corolla Sport, Corolla, and Corolla Touring our Corolla Hatchback and Sedan and Touring Sports respectively, have a C-shaped badge in their muzzle in Japan. The significantly cheaper and technically not related to the Corolla’s known here Toyota Corolla Axio and Corolla Fielder again have their own badge on their front. To emphasize that the Corolla Cross is really a full member of the modern TNGA-based Corolla family, the brand has given the car the same C-shaped logos as its well-known sister models.
Toyota Corolla (international)
But there’s more. For example, the headlights have a completely different light signature, but in fact the entire front is different. For example, the mainly closed black grille does not extend all the way to the edge of the hood. Instead, the Japanese Cross has a small, closed letterbox at the top with a thick protruding plastic underneath. Below that is a large and much wider black semi-closed grille that should pass for grille. Logically, Toyota also had to design the bumpers differently. Also at the rear, the Japanese version of the Corolla Cross differs from its international brothers. The rear bumper is different, the taillights have a different interpretation and the model name Corolla Cross is no longer written above the license plate. Instead, Toyota sticks a more modest type designation on the left side of the license plate. As with practically all Toyotas with ‘own logos’, we find the regular Toyota logo at the back. There is also a small technical novelty: unlike the international variants of the Corolla Cross, the Japanese version with E-Four four-wheel drive is available.
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Toyota Corolla GR Sport (Taiwan)
Admittedly, this article has little or no relevance for the European market. Officially it is not even known whether the Corolla Cross will come to our part of the world, although we have our strong suspicions that it will. For those who are interested in seeing how models differ from market to market, this story will hopefully offer a nice insight. For just a little more decoration, we drag in the GR Sport version of the Corolla Cross presented in Taiwan, a more sporty version where the grille frame continues under the headlights (photos 17, 18 and 19). Is it intense?