FIRST DRIVE | Updated Toyota Corolla Cross

Toyota hasn’t achieved its status as South Africa’s top selling car brand by being ahead of the pack with new gadgets.

It stays market leader by offering a range of solid cars with decent resale values, a vast dealer network and good after-sales support, leaving other brands to dazzle prospective customers with the latest hi-tech toys.

That said, even Toyota is cognisant of the feature-stuffed Chinese cars with high-quality cabins and almost too good to be true prices flooding the market and has responded by giving its popular Corolla Cross range enhanced equipment levels and a facelift.

It is the first major refresh of the line-up since its launch in November 2021 and becoming the country’s best-selling car in the competitive crossover/SUV league, plus being named the 2022 South African Car of the Year. The locally-built car sold more than 22,000 units in 2024, nearly double the 12,646 sales of its closest competitor, the Chinese Chery Tiggo 4 Pro.

For 2025 the Corolla Cross range — except for the GR-Sport model — adopts a fresh new face with a honeycomb grille that is becoming de rigueur, particularly with Chinese brands. The headlamps are redesigned and in the more expensive XR and GR-S models they feature sequential turn signals and uniquely shaped bi-beam LED lamps with crystal-like LED daytime running lights. At the rear are redesigned tail light clusters and the car comes with a choice of two new colours: Oxide Bronze and the striking Brass Gold in the pictured car.

The Xi and XS models have 17” alloy wheels, with 18” versions for the XR and GR-Sport.

The cabin has been updated with reclining rear seats for added comfort and fresh seat trims with dark brown accents. Real stitching now adorns the instrument panel and console lid to give the interior a slightly more premium feel and, as before, there are soft-touch surfaces and padded armrests.

An electric parking brake has replaced the foot brake and the car is equipped with modern USB Type-C ports. The Corolla Cross offers a larger, high-resolution infotainment screen with three customisable display options. Notably, the car does not have a wireless smartphone charger as is becoming the norm, and it wirelessly connects only with iPhones to access Apple CarPlay. Android phones must be plugged in to use Android Auto.

The XR and GR-S grades adopt a new digitised instrument cluster and all models boast upgraded safety in the form of rear occupant detection.

The XR and GR-S models also get an electric tailgate with a hands-free system which operates by swiping a foot under the rear bumper, but I struggled to get the latter to work in the XR I drove at the media launch earlier this week.

With its 4,460mm length the car’s cabin is roomy enough for four to five adults and the boot offers a reasonable 440l of luggage space.

Base Xi grades come standard with items such as cloth seats, smart keyless entry, cruise control, five airbags, 8” infotainment screen, rear parking sensors, air conditioning with rear ducts and in-car wi-fi with a complimentary 25Gb.

Xs models up the ante with leather seats, 10” infotainment screen, dual zone air conditioning, black roof rails and front/rear parking sensors.

The XR and GR-S add auto high beam, electrochromatic rear view mirror, 360º parking camera, two additional airbags and driver aids including adaptive cruise control, pre-crash with front cross traffic alert and lane keeping.

Mechanically the front-wheel drive car is unchanged and retains a choice of a normally aspirated 1.8l petrol engine with outputs of 103kW and 172Nm and a 1.8l petrol-electric hybrid with 90kW/142Nm.

Both are paired to a CVT transmission which makes the car drone under acceleration and there are no simulated gearshifts to lessen the trait as some other CVT-equipped cars offer. Both drivetrains provide usable commuting and cruising power and except for the droning the Corolla Cross has good refinement with minimal wind or road noise.

The 161mm ground clearance is 30mm higher than a regular Corolla's but the Corolla Cross drives with the agility of a normal car, without feeling top heavy. It also delivers a comfortable ride and feels solidly built.

The hybrid versions come with a price premium of more than R40,000 but are far more frugal, with the petrol test car averaging 10.2l/100km in our urban/freeway test drive while the HEV hybrid sipped 5.7l.

By our calculations, the price difference would be amortised after a distance of about 45,000km with the hybrid’s fuel saving.

PRICES

• Corolla Cross 1.8 Xi — R414,800
• Corolla Cross 1.8 Xs — R452,200
• Corolla Cross 1.8 Xs HEV — R494,400
• Corolla Cross 1.8 XR — R501,500
• Corolla Cross 1.8 XR HEV — R545,200
• Corolla Cross 1.8 GR-S — R518,200
• Corolla Cross 1.8 GR-S HEV — R561,700

Prices include a three-year/100,000km warranty and six-services/90,000km service plan. HEV models carry an eight-year warranty on the hybrid battery.