Toyota Will Launch Corolla Cross SUV In The U.S. Market

The worldwide success of a newly launched car arises when the automaker gets lots of demands from other international markets. This is the Toyota Corolla Cross case when just after the official launch in Thailand last year, they had to decide if a sell on the US market would be profitable. The demands weren’t a problem as we know. Well, a year later, Toyota finally stated that the vehicle will be sold stateside.

A decision is followed by a lot of work to be done – creating a model that is updated to all market’s regulations, both local and international, regulation of the specs accordingly to the market, and tests again on a race track to see how it would perform on different roads and extreme weather. This is why it took a year to spot the US version heavily camouflaged prototype of the American soil. Now everyone is eager to see when will be the local official launch. That’s yet to be announced.

Except for the amber turn signals developed to adapt the vehicle to the US market, no other significant alterations were done to the Toyota Corolla Cross. The US version might feature the same Toyota New Global Architecture C (TGNA-C). It measures the same 4,460 mm (175.5 inches) in length, 1,825 mm (71.9 inches) in width, and 1,620 mm (63.8 inches) in height. There is the same 2,640 mm (103.9 inch) wheelbase.

There is still the question what engine it might hide under the hood. No details were yet confirmed, but we know that the Thailand entry-level models are powered by, a standard 1.8-liter petrol engine offering 140 horsepower and and up to 175 Newton-meters, with CVT drive system. The hybrid guise variant of Corolla Cross successfully combines a 1.8-liter producing 98 horsepower and 142 Newton-meters with the electric motor offering extra 72 horsepower and 163 Newton-meters of torque. We’ll know more near to the official launch.