Toyota has just pulled the digital canvas of perhaps its most important car for years to come. We welcome the Yaris Cross, a compact crossover that Toyota expects a lot from a sales point of view!
Toyota has just lifted the Yaris Cross onto the stage, a completely new model that should have made its public debut at the beginning of March at the Geneva Motor Show. The fact that the unveiling of the model is different than initially planned does not affect the relevance of the newcomer. With the Yaris Cross, Toyota will finally enter the market for compact crossovers such as the Renault Captur, Volkswagen T-Roc and Peugeot 2008. Toyota does this in its own unique way, including with a hybrid powertrain.
The Yaris Cross is a cross-cornered crossover based on the new Yaris, but we would be short on that. The Yaris Cross’s coach resembles that of its regular hatchback brother in a few details. In fact, the Yaris Cross looks for a compact crossover striking SUV-like. This is not least due to clearly visible design influences of cars such as the much larger RAV4. The Yaris Cross has angular wheel arches, a high and fairly straight sloping, robust muzzle and a sharply cut and fairly flat tail light section. The Yaris Cross is 4.18 meters long, making it 24 centimeters longer than the Yaris. However, the wheelbase at 2.56 meters is identical to that of that hatchback. The difference in length is therefore in the overhang on both front and back. At the front the overhang is 6 centimeters larger, at the back the Yaris Cross extends 18 centimeters further past the rear wheels. In addition to longer, the Yaris Cross is also wider than the Yaris. It is 9 centimeters higher, 2 centimeters wider and has a 3 centimeter greater ground clearance. Although the dashboard is very similar to that of the Yaris, Toyota gives the Yaris Cross, among other things, its own instruments and a slightly differently arranged center console.
Hybrid
It should come as no surprise that the Yaris Cross, like every recent Toyota and Lexus model, has been developed according to the TNGA philosophy. The crossover shares its GA-B christened version of the modular TNGA platform with the Yaris. It is therefore not surprising that the Yaris Cross will have access to powertrains known from the Yaris. The 1.5 Hybrid functions as Toyota’s motorized signboard. This hybrid powertrain consists of a 1.5-liter three-cylinder petrol engine that runs on the Atkinson principle and is a derivative of the 2.0 and 2.5 machines from larger Toyota hybrids like the RAV4. The 91 hp internal combustion engine is coupled with a 79 hp electric motor, which derives its zest for life from a small lithium-ion battery pack incorporated under the rear seat. Good news for those who sometimes make meters next to the asphalt: the hybrid version of the Yaris Cross will be available with Toyota’s AWD-i, a system in which the rear wheels turn on electric power when conditions demand. Of course, don’t expect heavy off-road capabilities. Prefer not a Hybrid? Don’t run away yet. Although Toyota has not yet confirmed it, it is likely that the Yaris Cross will also be available with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder, which produces 121 hp in the Yaris.
Just like the new Yaris, the Yaris Cross has a lot going for it in terms of safety. Toyota gives the car standard Safety Sense 2, a package full of active and passive assistance systems. Adaptive cruise control is standard and the same is true for a lane assistant.
availabilty
Yaris Cross, intended for the European market, will soon run side by side with the Yaris in Onnaing, near Valenciennes, France. Along with the Yaris, the Yaris Cross should account for approximately 30 percent of European Toyota sales by 2025. The Yaris Cross will be at Dutch dealers in the middle of next year. Prices will follow in the run-up to the market introduction. By this time, Toyota will also release more details of its new crossover
Let’s be honest: while it seems like Toyota is late with the arrival of a compact crossover, the brand was in fact quite early. In 2008, two years before the introduction of the Nissan Juke, the brand already presented the Urban Cruiser in Geneva, a crossover based partly on the platform of the then current second-generation Yaris. The Urban Cruiser entered the Dutch market in 2009, but did not break any pots here. In four years, Toyota sold only 2,225 copies in the Netherlands.