Toyota Launches New Corolla CROSS

Their call is “Cross into the Future” and this is a nice day to unveil a new car. Perfect for urban dwellers, they present a new Hybrid car called the new “Corolla Cross”.  

Toyota CEO Atsuhiron Okamoto say “We made this the inspiration for this new car, the all new Corolla Cross. This is a sleek crossover of our product available in Hybrid, quality, reliability plus Toyota safety features. We can’t wait for you to see this. Get ready to cross into the new age!”  This will reinvent how people will travel in the Philippines.

Dizo Kameyama who leads engineering says "This new car knows that this is the greatest selling car family in the world. 48 Million cars worldwide, always ahead of its times. This is an SUV, feels premium, urban tough, but remains affordable. With a new torsion beam design, it brings comfort in drive, it is your partner, just asking where you will go tomorrow.  The world’s largest selling car has been reinvented now, this is going to be an SUV to be loved even more by Filipinos. Women want something that looks good, feels well while driving. A hybrid option means a gas engine and two electric motors. It will make your fuel consumption and emission less that regular cars. This also has a gun metallic grill, designed well in standards. The stability is good, has a blind spot monitor, power adjustable seat (available in leather), usb ports, plus a 7 inch display on the dashboard. The SUV’s also come in two variants, it costs 1,285,000 and the other is 1,650,000. It is also available in Metal Stream Metallic (Silver), Red Mica Metallic, Platinum White Pearl Mica  and Attitude Black Mica colorways."

The new excise tax rules also got the it less 50% because it is a hybrid variant. Pretty good way to save money and keep the purchase price down.   The sedans and the cross have interior parts shared. It also uses the TNGA platform, tuned the rear suspension, now with Apple Car Play and Android Auto. 

Maintaining a hybrid vehicle is just the same with regular gasoline or diesel fed engine. The oil changes, checking, is all done the same way except for a few things that will be inspected in the hybrid part, which is easy because they have service centers nationwide! They are targeting over 100 units, perhaps more in the next few years. This Corolla Cross will be available in the Philippines starting at the end of this month (August 26). 

Mr. Okamoto adds “This concept of combination hybrid technology is not changing, many to be improved especially the cost of materials and fuel efficiency. Hopefully we will have more affordable cars in the future. We will improve that.”  Nico BravantenVP for Product Planning says “We want a nice price, design, and specifications hence it took time to launch this. Same hybrid power train as the Altis, we have the 1.8 on the new Corolla Cross. It also has 7 bags, and is manufactured in Thailand.” 

Here is the press conference earlier!

Looks promising, watch out for the official launch of the Corolla Cross at the Toyota Motors Philippines Facebook Page today with Moira Dela Torre at 6pm!

This is just the tip of the iceberg.