Only with AWD
The Toyota Corolla Cross is only available as a Hybrid in the Netherlands. That hybrid variant is only now appearing in the US, but with an interesting twist.
We admit: this is not the most important car news that you will find on Autoweek.nl this week. Besides a good one, today is a very quiet Friday and to prevent your writer and/or yourself from falling asleep, we’re going to grab some American Toyota news. After all, let’s be honest: those last office hours before the long Easter weekend have to be filled with something.
Today’s actual news is the introduction of the US version of the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid. The Corolla Cross was already available in the US, but only with a regular petrol powertrain. It consisted of a two-liter with about 170 hp, coupled to a CVT automatic transmission and a choice of front or four-wheel drive. Outwardly, this regular American Corolla Cross (photos 8 and 9) looks like two drops of water on the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid delivered in Europe, with the main difference being the ‘side markers’ in the headlights and taillights, which are mandatory in the US.
Now a Corolla Cross Hybrid is also being introduced in North America. It is about the roughly 200 hp 2.0 Hybrid variant that is also available here, although there is also an important difference. With us, the Corolla Cross Hybrid is always front-wheel drive, while in the US the car is always four-wheel drive. Even more interesting is the appearance. The American Corolla Cross Hybrid clearly distinguishes itself from its non-hybrid brother. Toyota mounts a completely different front bumper, which immediately necessitates a different grille. The large, trapezoidal fence seems to drop one storey. Above it is therefore room for a new, largely closed panel, filled with the Toyota logo and a small cooling slot.
If this ‘new’ front looks familiar to you, don’t be surprised. This nose is on the Corolla Cross in Japan, although it is combined there with a different logo and a unique layout of the headlights. Interestingly, in the US Toyota chooses to reserve this smoother front for the hybrid, while in Europe we get a hybrid Toyota Corolla Cross with the ‘non-hybrid’ front. In your opinion, would Toyota have done better to introduce the American hybrid nose here as well? The choice is yours!
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl