Toyota Yaris Cross: Finally, An SUV On A Human Scale

Finally, a” small” car capable of reconciling us with SUVs. The Toyota Yaris Cross is an intelligent, sober, and efficient little tool that allows the world’s leading manufacturer to continue to fight on equal terms with the two manufacturers, masters of the segment.

If there is one brand in France that is making its way without breaking the media or economic shackles, it is Toyota. For a long time, the company delivered us mechanically irreproachable products, to the point of supplanting the German ones in the reputation of solidity but so unattractive!

They were too often models bought by populations eager to roll without passion coming to cloud the driver’s mind in a bourgeois and measured comfort. We all have a somewhat popo uncle or an accountant cousin who drove a Toyota Corolla. 

The same did not get involved in our conversations when we evoked our passions for neat trajectories, calls against calls, and other drifts (poorly) mastered drifts. And then there was an awareness on the side of the Rising Sun.

The Market Of The Toyota Yaris

To be a significant player in the market in Europe, Toyota, like all its Asian competitors, had to understand the mentality of customers from the old continent. While the brand made increasingly noticeable appearances in motorsport in the world rally championship, a big decision was taken at the end of the year. 90: To sell to Europeans, cars made in Europe were needed.

Apart from the savings made by eliminating the horrors of transport, local production made it possible to adapt as quickly as possible to buyers’ demands.

In Meaning, near Valenciennes, the production of what will be a bestseller in its very frequented niche in France, the Yaris, a small, versatile city car rival of the Clio, the C3, and the 206-207-208, began. Little by little, the Japanese adapted to the functioning of the French working class. And reciprocally. 

From now on, we can speak of a Japanese-French product as the symbiosis is complete. Building on this success, the brand’s style evolved even further with two very European design centers in Brussels and Biot near Nice.

This is where the Yaris Cross was designed, an evolution of the base model very lively commercially. We can therefore speak of a product “Made in France” even if this name no longer has the same Meaning in these times of great global globalization … and shortages of spare parts due to the deindustrialization of our country.

A Strong Affiliation With The RAV 4

Before becoming today’s bodybuilder, the Rav 4 imposed its original paw long before the arrival of Nissan’s Qashqai, a self-proclaimed “ancestor of all SUVs.” Just put one next to the other, the original model from the early 90s with that good face from Yaris Cross, and the filiation becomes almost obvious. Still, this novelty will be classified as a B-SUV, and it will be positioned in front of the Puma, 2008, Captur, T-Cross, and other 500X.

A little higher on the leg than a “basic” Yaris, a little wider, a little quieter in fact, and we end up with a vehicle that reconciles with what the marketing men strive to badger SUV then that it is, in particular, a small all-purpose sedan with more pleasing shapes than the original and enhanced as is the current trend and as desired by those with back pain.

Now a Toyota, it is no longer a little stylistic thought that tries to slip into the flood of anonymous automobiles; it is a small rolling object that leaves a little creativity to its designers who we feel free from the yoke of industrial planning dear to the Japanese. This is undoubtedly its greatest asset. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the sales figures trigger a few smiles from the brand’s bosses.

As a reminder, the Yaris Cross is manufactured at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing site in Valenciennes. An investment of 400 million euros allows both the construction of the Yaris and the Yaris Cross. This increase in Toyota’s European production capacity strengthens its localization strategy and will enable it to move closer to the goal of 1.5 million vehicles sold per year in Europe by 2025.

An Intelligent Engine And Efficient Road Holding

Aesthetically, the test is successful. The increased volumes make it possible to leave the design, which is sometimes a little triturated with the current productions of the brand. The Yaris Cross 2021 is well built, well seated on its wheels installed at the four corners.

With its 4.18 m long, 1.77 m wide, 1.56 m high, and wheelbase of 2.56 m, the new Toyota has sensible dimensions and offers enough room to travel to 4 while enjoying a sufficient trunk of 397 dm3 (327 dm3 on the AWD version). This “city SUV” or this raised sedan (it’s up to you!) Is based on the recent TNGA GA-B platform.

The Engine Of the Toyota Yaris

On the engine side, the Toyota Yaris Cross is equipped with Toyota’s fourth-generation hybrid technology, a system introduced on the new Yaris sedan. Its main component is the 1.5L Dynamic Force Engine three-cylinder engine. It has the same basic structure and functions identically to the two-liter installed on the Corolla and Toyota C-HR. The heat engine develops 91 hp.

The compact hybrid transaxle also includes an electric motor/generator that provides more power (60 kW or 80 hp) and better response than the previous Toyota system. The hydride powertrain announces a capacity of 116 hp and a torque of 141 Nm.

Lithium-ion Battery

The battery is a lithium-ion which allows a gain in power during acceleration compared to the old model, a heavier nickel-metal-hydride. It is only a three-cylinder, and it suffers a little in the low revs, but the whole is coherent and effective provided that the road does not go up too much. This engine is associated with a CVT-type gearbox.

With thermal traction and electric propulsion, the Yaris Cross can drive 2 or 4 wheels. The AWD version is ideal on the” fat-wet” ; this road aptitude does not go so far as to allow crossings all-terrain, but the handling is enjoyable when you want to tease the small SUV in sections of the mountainous road, for example.

An excellent job on the damping has been done, and the Cross is comfortable in road use. It will nevertheless be necessary to try the two-wheel-drive since the model offered for testing by Toyota was exclusively equipped with all-wheel drive.

Comfortable for a car in this segment, not lacking in pep, the Yaris Cross is well equipped and can prove to be a most exciting alternative compared to its rivals in the segment. The Toyota Yaris Cross is available in 6 finishes, and 2 or 4 wheels drive for 25,500 euros.

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