As Toyota's best-selling signature family car around the world, it has been 55 years since the birth of the first generation of models. The advantages of affordable price and durable leather make it loved by many consumers.
Today, in order to enrich the product line of the Corolla family, Toyota has also officially launched its SUV crossover model Corolla Cross, which was officially named FAW Toyota Corolla Sharp After being introduced into China. It is reported that the new car will open pre-sale in China on Christmas Eve on December 24, and will launch three versions of the model, namely elite version, luxury version and premium version.
Although the name of the new car has some origins with the Corolla, in fact it is a compact SUV based on the Toyota TNGA GA-C platform, and it is a sister model to GAC Toyota Fenglanda.
appearance
From the appearance point of view, the new car maintains the design of the overseas version of the prototype car Corolla CROSS, the front face of the large area of the honeycomb grid is somewhat similar to the RAV4, using Toyota's current family style, of course, if you only look at the headlights part, you can see the shadow of Corolla at a glance.
Although the car is positioned as a crossover SUV, the body uses a lot of blackout treatment to highlight its sense of sportiness, but from its overall shape, it maintains the relatively rounded shape of the traditional SUV, and does not adopt an overly aggressive flat back design.
Such a shape, but also make it has a good space performance, the new car size length, width and height are 4460/1825/1620mm, its 2640mm wheelbase in line with its compact SUV positioning, and Toyota has always done a good job in space optimization, so it can fully meet the space needs of daily households.
Interior
In terms of interior, in addition to some color matching and detail differences, the overall style of the new car is similar to the car version of the Corolla, which is also a strong "simple" taste, which is also a place where Toyota has been criticized, from the entry-level small car "Zhi Xuan" to the flagship sedan "Asian Dragon", Toyota's models are in the interior workmanship and design aesthetics, there is a "dream back to ten years ago" old sense, it is not exquisite enough, at least compared with the same level of domestic cars, German cars, French cars and other opponents, there is indeed a certain gap.
However, according to the configuration table information we intercepted, the Corolla Sharp is more abundant in terms of configuration, regardless of the high and low models will use 17-inch aluminum alloy wheels, the interior is also fully equipped with standard, large size (9 inches) central control touch screen, rear exhaust air outlet, TFT multi-function display and so on.
In terms of safety configuration, Corolla Ruifang is even more reckless, equipping the whole series of models with 7 airbags and Toyota TSS zhixing safety system, which is very conscientious. Of course, in order to open up the gap between models, configurations such as LED headlights, reversing images, keyless start, leather multi-function steering wheels, and power seats will only appear on medium and high-end models.
impetus
In terms of power system, the fuel version of the new car will use a 2.0L naturally aspirated engine, matched with the CVT gearbox, which has a maximum power of 126kW and a maximum torque of 203N·m, and the comprehensive fuel consumption of 100 kilometers under NDEC conditions is 5.7L, while the hybrid version will be launched next year.
In summary, FAW Toyota Corolla Ruifang is a compact SUV positioned for home use, which inherits the advantages of the Corolla family, mature and stable, safe and reliable, but in terms of power configuration and interior design, there are not many highlights compared with the same level of models.
Toyota's current strategy in China is to try to cover more market segments with the "car sea" tactic, but from the perspective of actual results, it is not ideal.
FAW Toyota's many SUV models, including Lingfang, Lufang, and IZOA Yize, have been selling tepidly, and the current performance of rav4 is acceptable, and its domestic sales in November were 18640 units, ranking 9th in the SUV sales list. The same is true of GAC Toyota, which only has good sales of two cars, the Willanda and Highlander, and the rest of the models have been left out in the cold.
Although Chinese consumers have an almost paranoid fanaticism about SUVs, this segment has become saturated, the market is full of a variety of models for consumers to choose from, and aesthetic fatigue has also made everyone's enthusiasm for SUVs much less than before. Except for a few word-of-mouth models that have been successfully built, the outlook for the rest of the SUV models is not optimistic.
However, with reference to the pre-price range of 135,000-175,000 yuan for GAC Toyota Fenglanda, the pricing of Corolla Ruifang should not be too high. Combined with the influence of the "Corolla" golden sign in China, the price is close to the people, and the sharp release with complete safety configuration may really have the potential to break the game.