Automakers have turned to online platforms to launch products and carry out sales as the Coronavirus pandemic has cast disrupted the world economy and the automobile industry.
One of such new launches is the Toyota Yaris Cross, a compact sport utility vehicle, expected to dictate the pace among urban cars in this segment in the post-COVID-19 auto sales.
A few days after the Toyota Yaris Cross was revealed for the first time in the studio pictures, new ‘real-life’ images of the crossover SUV have surfaced online.
This, according to auto.hindustantimes.com, has given a picture of its exterior and unique design.
Toyota had earlier announced that its new compact SUV, the Yaris Cross, would be unveiled at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show before the event was cancelled to avert the spread of coronavirus.
Toyota Motor Corporation says in a report of its website that the new SUV inherits the qualities of the brand’s flagship compact car, Yaris.
It adds that the Yaris Cross will be launched in Japan later in the year (Autumn), and in Europe mid-2021.
It also says the goal for producing the new Yaris Cross is to develop a vehicle that can help redefine what an urban-type compact SUV should be, sharing the same driving pleasure and feeling beyond its class as the Yaris brand.
It says, “By adopting the all-new hybrid system and the TNGA platform (GA-B) for compact cars, the Yaris Cross offers a higher dimension of basic and environmental performance.
“Also, the vehicle achieves an easy-to-handle body size while providing SUV-like interior comfort and luggage room. The exterior design, though simple, expresses the robustness of an SUV. The interior design is also shaped to give it a feeling of higher quality and comfort.”
Some other details are captured in a report by auto.hindustantimes.com, noting, “As far as mechanical details are concerned, the Yaris Cross will be offered in petrol and hybrid variants. The petrol option will use M15A-FKS 1.5-litre direct-injection three-cylinder unit which is capable of generating 120 PS of power and 145 Nm of peak torque.”
It says the hybrid option will use the M15A-FXE 1.5-litre direct-injection three-cylinder gasoline powerplant which will work in conjunction with an electric motor.
It, however, points out that other details on this powerplant will be revealed in the days to come.
A few other key features of the Yaris Cross are given as LED headlights, LED tail lights, 18-inch alloy wheels, a 10-inch colour head-up display, 40:20:40 split rear seats, 8-inch touchscreen infotainment featuring Apple CarPlay, Android Auto connectivity and sat-nav.
It says the vehicle’s production is set for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Factory) Onnaing factory in France and Japan’s Toyota Motor East (Iwate) factory.
Toyota says the new vehicle follows last year’s debut of the all-new Yaris, unveiled in October 2019 as the next-generation compact car, “which brought enhanced driving pleasure, the world’s highest level of fuel efficiency for its class thanks to its use of Toyota’s latest hybrid system, as well as advanced safety and security technologies.”
Yaris was first introduced in 1999 and manufactured under the spirit of building a global standard for compact cars.
According to the manufacturer, about 8.71 million units of Yaris have been sold globally as the flagship model of Toyota’s compact car business.
Forbes says Toyota expects huge sales from the Yaris Cross predicating this on the unique features of the new compact SUV.
It notes that going by the first official images of the crossover, it is clear that the vehicle sits on the firm’s TNGA platform and employs the same wheelbase as the recently released Yaris compact.
“In fact, you could say that the Yaris Cross is the Yaris’s big brother, boasting longer overhangs, a one-inch higher ride height and more space inside,” it adds.
It describes as a bold and smart move the decision of the number one Japanese automaker to place a larger SUV body on the Yaris’s platform.
“It is a smart move given the huge popularity of crossovers in recent years through which these utilitarian body styles have captured roughly half the market,” Forbes reports.
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