CROSS PURPOSES(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 64

In the Yaris Cross, Toyota has a credible truly class-competitive supermini-sized SUV and the car looks more up-to-date in this further improved form. It continues to fill an important gap in the company's Crossover line-up, just below the C-HR, and offers the full-Hybrid powerplant that remains relatively unusual in this segment. The AWD powertrain option is still rare to find in this class too.

Background word count: 154

Toyota's strong-selling Yaris Cross small Hybrid SUV gets a further update, this time with a sharper look. Despite being announced at the worst possible time (back in 2020 in the middle of Covid), the Yaris Cross has gone on to be a big success story for Toyota. It was launched in 2021, then usefully updated in 2024 and in its first four years of sale sold over 200,000 units across Europe, over 76,000 of them in the UK. Prior to the introduction of this further improved version in Spring 2026. Nothing much has changed as part of what Toyota calls its process of 'kaizen' (continuous improvement) visited upon this model, which continues to be basically a more versatile, higher-riding version of the Yaris Hybrid supermini. Today though, it sells in Toyota showrooms alongside a similarly-sized full-electric small SUV, the Urban Cruiser. It'll be interesting to see how the sales of the two models compare.

Driving Experience word count: 276

Toyota hasn't made any engineering changes here. So as before, under the bonnet there's still the 1.5-litre full-Hybrid self-charging petrol/electric powerplant borrowed from the conventional Yaris supermini. As there, you can get it in two states of tune. Most customers opt for the standard 114bhp output version, but you can also get this engine in a perkier 129bhp state of tune, with torque increased by 30% from 141Nm to 185Nm. That improves the 0-62mph sprint time by half a second to 10.7s. All Yaris Cross models continue with the same e-CVT auto gearbox. And the Hybrid engine continues with its pleasing preference for reverting to battery power in urban driving whenever possible. As a result, the company expects that over 80% of urban journeys in this car will be able to be completed under electric power alone. Toyota says it put a lot of work into reducing noise and vibration with this model, with thick windscreen glass, plenty of sound deadening and a dynamic damper added to the left-side engine mount. As before, along with the front-driven drivetrain bolted to the Yaris model line's stiff TNGA platform, there's something unusual in this class - the option of 4WD. The 'Intelligent All-Wheel Drive' system in question is, as you'd expect, of the electric rather than the mechanical kind and operates in front wheel drive most of the time, sending drive to the rear wheels only when tractional needs really require it to. The AWD-i version gets a more sophisticated double-wishbone rear suspension set-up too, compared to the front wheel drive car's more basic torsion beam arrangement. Top 'GR Sport' trim gets you retuned suspension for sharper handling.