I feel the Corolla, a product that is dear to my heart, has become Pakistan’s “people’s car” in terms of brand and meets Toyota’s vision of “Mobility for All”. Toyota Asia’s President Yoshiki Konishi said: “For over 30 years, Toyota has contributed to Pakistan, thanks to the support of the government and people of Pakistan. He further assured to uphold the incentives for HEVs as outlined in the AIDEP 2021-26 Policy.įederal Minister of Finance Ishaq Dar also appreciated the Corolla Cross Hybrid and the benefits the country would derive from the new technology both economically and environmentally. Indus Motor Company announces another plant shutdown The PM commended Toyota’s initiative in bringing the first locally-manufactured Hybrid SUV to Pakistan and emphasised the need to further localisation efforts in the country as well as focus on exports. Mitsuhiro Wada, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, also graced the occasion alongwith Members of the Cabinet, including Federal Minister of Finance Ishaq Dar and Federal Minister of Industries & Production, Makhdoom Murtaza Mehmood. Shame, even more so as we’re in such a golden age for Toyotas with great-looking and fun-to-drive cars the norm now, no matter what the shape or size.ISLAMABAD: A delegation from Indus Motor Company, led by Vice Chairman Shinji Yanagi and Chief Executive Ali Asghar Jamali, met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday at the PM’s Office to showcase the first locally-manufactured Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV).Īlso participating in the meeting was Yoshiki Konishi, President, Toyota Asia, who is also the Chief Engineer of the Corolla Cross. So it’s easy to use, with a good mix of buttons and touchscreen functionality, although the age of the dash is just starting to be felt against newer rivals.Īll of which makes the Corolla Cross feel a bit disappointing, then. In growing in size, the Corolla has lost that extra dynamic sparkle, something felt most in the body control.īeyond more headroom and a bigger boot (487 litres here versus 313 litres in the Corolla) that’s easier to access thanks to a wider and lower lip, the rest of the interior package is familiar from the Corolla. But what has been lost on the Cross is the everyday handling appeal, those more intangible qualities that make something pleasing or even fun to drive. It rides well and is comfortable over bumps large and small, and also has plenty of grip and a light, direct feel to the steering. Thankfully, some elements of Corolla’s dynamic competence have carried over into this raised version.

Nobody does real-world efficiency as well as Toyota.

What can’t be criticised is just how efficient the system is in the real-world: we saw close to 55mpg on a mixed roads test in fairly foul conditions, which is even in excess of the official claimed 52.3mpg figure. New 2022 Toyota GR Corolla touches down at New York show New 2022 Toyota GR Corolla touches down at New York show The presence of the other recent recipient of the ‘Cross’ treatment, the Yaris Cross, which is easily one of the best-looking small SUVs out there, is also nowhere to be seen in another route Toyota could have gone down. It’s the gap between these two cars, however small (the C-HR is 4385mm long and the RAV4 4600mm), that the 4460mm-long Corolla Cross looks to plug. In the metal, it still looks like it sits quite close to the ground and it doesn’t appear to be the tallest visually either even though it’s officially 185mm taller than the Corolla hatchback.All this while lacking the fun styling of the C-HR (a car that still looks so fresh a good five years after launch), and the chunky, rugged appeal and SUV presence of the RAV4.

While Toyota might call it an SUV, it actually looks more like an Allroad-style estate car. Some European countries have already decided to take it, and we tried a European-spec version in Denmark on judging duty for the 2023 Car of the Year contest. It’s a global model that’s been on sale in some markets including the US for almost a year. The Corolla Cross is officially billed as an SUV version of the hatchback.

Toyota corolla croos