Toyota Corolla Cross

The cabin layout of the 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross remains unchanged over its pre-facelift version. However, Toyota has given it a much more premium-looking dual-tone black and beige leather upholstery, along with a few new features that make it feel more premium and give it a greater sense of space.

The three-spoke multi-functional steering wheel with a Y-themed centre boss remains unchanged, though the instrument console behind it is a new 12.3-inch full-TFT screen, sitting within a closed binnacle. The corners of the dashboard have sharp-looking trapezoidal air vents with satin silver surrounds, while the upper and middle layers of the dashboard have a soft-touch leather finish.

The centre console is dominated by a free-standing 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which along with the trapezoidal AC vents placed below it, is finished in a theme of gloss black. Even the V-shaped lower centre console, which houses the controls for the dual-zone automatic climate control is finished in a gloss black theme. The sides of the lower centre console and door pads do get satin silver pillars for an additional premium feel in the cabin. The Toyota Corolla Cross is decently equipped with features like an 8-way powered driver’s seat, wireless charger, 6-speaker audio system, electronic parking brake, rear AC vents and more.

In the latest facelift that it has received, the Toyota Corolla Cross has become a more futuristic and fresher vehicle to look at, with the premium compact SUV now having more attention-grabbing elements. While the original silhouette remains the same, the compact SUV has received significant tweaks to the front and rear profiles.

Starting with the front profile, the new Toyota Corolla Cross has a fresher fascia, comprising of a textured design for the front grille, which has a combination of closed and open honeycomb inserts. Just above this grille, there is a thick trapezoidal garnish line which spreads over it to the inner edges of the curvaceous-looking headlamps, which have LED projectors and eyelid-shaped daytime running LEDs over them. The front bumper, on which the grille is placed in the middle, has blacked-out faux air vents on the sides and bull bar-like cladding in the middle, the inner lower corners of which come fitted with rounded fog lamps.

The side profile of the Toyota Corolla Cross has received minimal changes in this facelifted version, with the premium compact SUV still having a smart and upright design with boomerang-shaped curves over the front and rear fenders. The Toyota Corolla Cross has 17-inch alloys in the G variant, 18-inch alloys in the V variant and 18-inch dual-tone alloys in the GR-S variant. Also on offer in the Toyota Corolla Cross are door-mounted rearview mirrors and black cladding over the wheel arches and lower part of door panels.

The rear profile of the Toyota Corolla Cross has also been tweaked with new LED inserts for the wide-stretched combination tail lamps, with the premium compact SUV also having a raked rear windscreen, roof spoiler and trapezoidal housing for the license plate on the boot lid. To make it look rugged even from the back, Toyota has given the Corolla Cross thick body cladding over the rear bumper.

With a front-wheel drive configuration as standard, the Toyota Corolla Cross comes with Macpherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear, both of which get stabilizers. The top-spec GR-S variant gets a stiffer setup for the same suspension on offer, which gives it improved driving dynamics. However, the steering responses are a bit duller at higher speeds.

The Toyota Corolla Cross shares its petrol-electric hybrid powertrain with the Corolla sedan, which is a combination of a 1.8-litre 92 PS four-cylinder petrol engine, front-mounted electric motor and a battery setup. In the combined mode, the maximum power and torque outputs of this hybrid powertrain are rated at 122 PS and 142 Nm respectively. A CVT is the standard transmission in all three variants.

In addition to the basics like seven airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, vehicle stability control, front and rear parking sensors and 360-degree parking camera, the Toyota Corolla Cross also comes with a host of ADAS features like a pre-collision system, automatic high beam, lane tracing assist, adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert, blind spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert.

The Toyota Corolla Cross packs in a lot of practicality, and combined with the hybrid powertrain on offer, it is light on the pocket and refined to drive too.