Will America Get The Funky Toyota C-HR Hybrid?

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Toyota’s interpretation of the VehiCROSS new generation of compact crossovers will go on sale early next year after its reveal in Geneva in March, according to Autocar.

The Toyota C-HR (or perhaps Auris Cross) will be built on Toyota’s new global architecture, from which half of its cars will be based by 2020. It’s unclear if the car would be released in the States as a Toyota or as a Scion. The Auris recently went on sale in North America as the Scion iM.

The car hasn’t been confirmed for North American shores yet, but considering our penchant for anything crossover, the subcompact C-HR would scratch an itch Toyota has in its lineup now.

The new model could also be shared between Toyota and Mazda under a newly minted agreement between the automakers. We wrote in June that the car could be powered by one of Mazda’s 1.5-liter diesel engines overseas, perhaps even paired with a battery as a hybrid.

The new global architecture narrows the window for Toyota in development, and can produce cars “one-by-one” in a production method that could allow for some aggressively styled cars to roll off of Toyota production lines for short times.

The next-generation Prius should be the first car to be built on the shared architecture with more cars to follow. The platforms range from full-size to crossover.

Either way, it’s possible that we’ll see the C-HR on the streets sooner rather than later.

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Sirwired Sirwired on Aug 10, 2015

    If any car Toyota sells should be a Scion, this is it. (Personally, I think they should just declare the experiment a failure and move on; they've never given the brand the marketing support it needs.) On another note, WTF are those front tires; they look like racing slicks with some gratuitous grooves in them? Could they not find regular tires that fit?

    • Tosh Tosh on Aug 10, 2015

      Those are the funky tires that go with the funky car, but you don't get it, so we won't get the funky stuff in America (ever).

  • Volt 230 Volt 230 on Aug 10, 2015

    They always put exaggerated wheels/tires in pre-production cars to attract attention, we won't see this ever looking like this.

  • APaGttH APaGttH on Aug 10, 2015

    Given the general success of the Renegade, HR-V, Trax, and Encore, which are combing up for close to 24K units a month right now, it seems like a no brainer to sell in the US. Agree with the assessment above that this is the vehicle that should have a Scion badge, if Toyota continues to insist on keeping this zombie brand alive.

  • PeriSoft PeriSoft on Aug 10, 2015

    What's Hot Wheels going to do now that Toyota has hired away all their designers?

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