This is the brand new hybrid Toyota Yaris Cross

By topgear, 24 April 2020
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Brave? Foolhardy? Gosh, Toyota is ignoring the times we live in and launching a new car. Oh hang on, it’s not. It doesn’t actually go on sale for another year.

This mini-me RAV-4 will be Toyota’s attempt to crack the small crossover market. That’s the Jukes and T-Crosses and Pumas of this world. Sometimes I think it’d be worth setting up a keyboard shortcut: alt-f8 means ‘write a news story about a new compact crossover’.

This one’s called the Yaris Cross. If that name conjures up cars like the Fiesta Active, don’t be deceived. It’s not just a jacked-up Yaris with plastic arch extensions. It’s got all-new body panels, although it uses the same platform as the Yaris. The rear overhang is longer but the wheelbase is the same.

One product of its boxy, faceted shape is that it’s actually got more room inside than the bigger C-HR. The boot is deep and has a nifty system of straps to hold your stuff down during the lively cornering Toyota claims you’ll want to do.

And you might, because the related cars that use this platform do tackle bends and bumps pretty well. We had a good time in the prototype GR Yaris.

Unusual among these little crossovers, there will be a four-wheel-drive version. Toyota says it’s practical for ski trips and the like, not just biffing around cities.

The rear drive is via a space-saving electric motor rather than a propshaft (although it still steals a bit of boot room). That’s a simple solution because there’s a lot of electricity going around: this is a hybrid.

It uses the same hybrid system as the Yaris. The engine is a 1.5-litre three-cylinder, and total system power is 114bhp. For the front-driver, Toyota quotes WLTP emissions of 120g/km, which is actually not that far ahead of the Ford Puma.

There will be a non-hybrid for some countries, but Toyota UK isn’t sure it’ll sell it here. This far from launch there’s still time for a decision either way. If you want a TG guess, it won’t come. They recently deleted the non-hybrid CR-V from the range.

The body styling uses tightly pulled-in door surfaces to emphasise the arches, which have hefty plastic extensions. Those arches have a raised rear corner, giving the thing a quizzical expression. The contrast-colour roof is situation-normal for these sorts of cars.

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Inside, it’s not just about space. The design and choice of cabin materials, as in the RAV4, looks like an atonement for Toyota’s past brittle-plastic sins. Some interesting textures and folds of cloth cover the dash, and diamond stitching trims the seats. The screen system uses phone mirroring at last – Toyota took a while to jump on that train.

Toyota’s competitive driver-assist suite is available of course. And an electric hatchback if you’re the sort who has time on your hands to watch it wheeze its way up and down.

The Yaris Cross goes on sale in 2021, and it’ll be built in the same factory in northern France as the vanilla Yaris.