How this as a recipe for cooking up a successful motor vehicle?
Start with the base of Australia’s top-selling brand for the past 25 years, add a badge that’s been around since 1967 and accumulated more than 1.5-million sales here. Then bulk it up to get into the booming compact SUV market, and top it off with the latest in fuel-saving hybrid technology.
What you get is the brand-new Toyota Corolla Cross, a compact SUV that is likely to scare the pants of every other competitor in its highly-ompetitive market segment.
After a long period when Toyota’s smallest SUV, the RAV4, grew into a mid-sized model leaving the compact field open to numerous competitors from other brands, it now has three vehicles in contention, Yaris Cross, C-HR and now the Corolla Cross.
There are three Corolla Cross three variants, GX, GXL and a new name, Atmos. As is the norm with Toyota each comes with a hybrid option which adds between $2500 and $3000 to the price while GXL and Atmos are also available with all-wheel drive.
Prices, prior to on-road costs, range from $33,000 for the entry level 2WD GX petrol through to $49,050 for our test vehicle, the Atmos AWD hybrid.
STYLING
Although it sits on the same platform as the Corolla hatch, the Cross has a totally different body as befitting an SUV. The styling is quite conservative but that’s unlikely to deter the typical Toyota buyer who prefers function over fashion.
While it shares much with the Corolla its outer appearance is more mini-RAV4 than maxi-Corolla with a snub-nosed grille featuring the Toyota logo, with blue highlights in the centre. GXL and Atmos add front foglights, enhanced LED headlights and roof rails.
The Atmos gets a two-piece panoramic moonroof.
SAFETY
In addition to the usual mandatory safety features all Corolla Cross variants come with eight airbags, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert ; and ISOFIX child seat anchors.
Also standard in all models is the latest Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 package which adds a pre-collision safety system with pedestrian and cyclist detection, active cruise control, lane trace and departure alert with steering assist, lane change assist with deceleration assist, road sign assist, door exit warning and automatic high beam.
In addition, GSX gets parking support brake with vehicle and object detection and a panoramic view monitor. Atmos adds pedestrian detection to the parking support brake feature as well as advanced park assist.
Corolla Cross has yet to receive an ANCAP rating but the maximum five points would seem certain.
INFOTAINMENT
Corolla Cross is the first Toyota in Australia to get the brand’s new multimedia system. The entry-level GX uses an 8.0-inch touchscreen, GXL and Atmos get a 10.5-inch screen. The resolution is sharp and fast to respond with the option of using voice activation.
Satellite navigation is standard in the GXL and Atmos.
There’s wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto along with a single Type-C USB port in the front console of the GX and two in the centre console of the GXL and Atmos. Behind the steering wheel there’s a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster in the GX and GXL,
with a much larger (12.3 inch) one in the Atmos. Corolla Cross also gets the latest version of the Toyota Connected Services communications system that uses the myToyota Connect smartphone app to allow owners to do such things as remotely check the status of the doors and lights, access information such as the vehicle’s last known location and recent trips, or start the engine or climate control.
DRIVING
The taller body of the Corolla Cross assist with access while the higher driving position, large windscreen, side windows and mirrors together with a relatively narrow A-pillar combine to provide excellent visibility to the front and side, only let down a bit by a fairly skinny rear window.
There’s a reassuringly solid feel to the Cross and it’s easy to drive and park around the urban environment which is most likely to be its home with steering which is relatively light but direct and intuitive.
Apart from the battery-only start and silent running the Atmos hybrid that we tested had that sharp acceleration that we enjoy in all vehicles with an electric component. Suspension is well-balanced although we did get knocked around when maneuvering through a badly-cratered section of our drive courtesy of some recent flooding. Toyota is playing a waiting game in adopting pure electric and plug-in hybrid technology relying – very successfully – on the hybrid variants that feature across the range with sub- 5.0 L/100 km fuel consumption relatively easily achieved.
SUMMING UP
Everything about the new Corolla Cross points to it being a major success for Toyota. The Corolla name brings decades of credibility while the SUV body adds the family-friendly practicality that is so popular at this time. Add it’s neat styling, comparatively spacious interior, capable performance and excellent fuel economy and we expect it to overtake its compact SUV rivals within the next 12 months.
All Toyotas now come with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. This can be extended to seven years on the engine and driveline, and 10 years on the hybrid battery, subject to all scheduled servicing being done at Toyota dealerships. There is also five-year capped price servicing due every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres at just $230 per visit.
