Toyota has nothing to hide. The Toyota C-HR Concept unveiled the is foreshadowing for a future compact-SUV for the European market.
The Japanese manufacturer has aligned the design of its prototype to its popular existing models: the (which is stalling in Europe), the (with hybrid powertrain), and the the GT86 ( in Canada) which has inspired the concept鈥檚 silhouette and handling.
The C-HR concept鈥檚 flashy and provocative styling is the result of collaboration between ED2, the center of European design from Toyota, which is based in Sophia-Antipolis near Nice, France, and other design offices of . Strong reliefs and expressive headlamps result in shapes that Toyota suggests "visually lower the center of gravity forward, increasing the seating on the road."
Its side-profile features a multifaceted rocker, massive 21-inch wheel arches, and pronounced shoulders, leaving little room for side windows. Many contour edges point down on the sides, while its taillights (which are flanked on the wings), and the deflector all point forward.
Although Toyota says the C-HR shares the mechanics of a Prius, it hasn't yet revealed much in the way of technical details. Only three basic dimensions of the two-door vehicle are specified: a length of 4350 mm, a width of 1500 mm and height of 2640 mm. This suggests that this future SUV will be smaller than the current RAV4.
What Autofocus thinks:
Toyota isn鈥檛 too late to the compact SUV game. The C-HR concept follows closely on the heels of the , and . Now that Honda is entering this niche with its HR-V, Toyota likely shouldn't limit the future production model to release in Europe. Hopefully the eventual production model of this small Toyota SUV adopts a new name, sufficiently different from Honda HR-V.
