Toyota Corolla Cross SUV Launched In Thailand. Will It Come To India?

If it does, the Corolla Cross could be Toyota’s offering in the premium compact SUV space

• Latest Corolla now has an SUV avatar called the Corolla Cross.

• It features a distinct exterior design with plenty of cladding for added rugged appeal.

• Corolla Cross has been launched in Thailand with petrol and petrol-hybrid engines.

• It gets features like a sunroof and 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system for its spacious cabin.

The Corolla has been a staple of the Toyota product portfolio for over 50 years, having been offered in various forms over that period. Now, the latest-gen Corolla gets an SUV iteration called the Corolla Cross.

The 12th generation Corolla is underpinned by the TNGA GA-C platform which allows for versatile body types like the new Cross SUV. It looks quite different from its hatchback, sedan and estate siblings with the chunkier bumpers, cladding along the entire side and taller stance. Within Toyota’s extensive range of global SUV offerings, the Corolla Cross is a sedate and practical alternative to the sportier C-HR while being smaller than the popular RAV4.

The Corolla Cross features muscular styling for increased road presence. It gets 18-inch 10-spoke alloy wheels, a blacked out grille flanked by LED headlamps with integrated LED DRLs and LED taillamps around the back. Here are its exact proportions:

As a five-seater compact SUV, the Corolla Class is a bit smaller than those in the same segment. But it offers a lot of boot space that can be increased to 487 litres without a spare tyre under the floor.

The Corolla Cross is equipped with a range of premium features like a power-adjustable driver seat, powered tailgate with kick-to-open, dual zone auto AC, powered moonroof and reclining rear seats (upto 6 degrees).

It has a minimalistic dashboard layout, which is a straight lift from the Corolla, with a free-standing 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Toyota Connect (carmaker’s suite of connected tech features). The driver’s instrument cluster features a 7-inch multi-information display flanked by analogue dials for fuel, engine temperature and some sort of power usage indicator.

Toyota is offering the new Corolla Cross in Thailand with a choice of two powertrains:

In its Thai-spec, the Corolla Cross gets Toyota’s suite of safety systems like pre-collision system, lane departure alert with steering assist, dynamic cruise control, blind spot monitor and rear cross traffic alert. Other safety features include 7 airbags, panoramic view monitor and automatic high beam.

The Toyota Corolla Cross is priced between THB 989,000 (Rs 23.80 lakh) and THB 1,119,000 (Rs 28.86 lakh) in Thailand. If Toyota does bring it to India, it would be a rival to the likes of the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson facelift and Skoda Karoq. However, it seems the Corolla range of products is unlikely to come to India in any avatar since the sedan was removed from Toyota India’s portfolio earlier this year.