The Toyota CH-R compact crossover was specifically designed for the European market and is quite a best-seller with one CH-R every six cars sold. The United States took notice and got interested which led Toyota to bring the CH-R over.
The 2018 Toyota CH-R Hybrid Euro-Spec. The CH-R is one good example of a hit design in Europe, more car-looking than SUV-ish really. It was originally made for Europe just like the Nissan Qashqai which will be made available in the spring of 2017 as the Nissan Rogue Sport.
The exterior looks much like a coupe and an SUV combine. It is sleek on the front looking like a car-like and sportier version of RAV4. The CH-R pulls off this combination quite reasonably well actually.
The cabin on the CH-R has a swoopy design with the interior housing Toyota's familiar switchgear and signature digital clock with the former being present in other Toyota dashboards for the last three decades. The front offers a lot of legroom and headroom. Unexpectedly, the back offers the same but fails to give that impression due to the CH-R's tiny side windows.
"There are now so many compact crossovers; Toyota is late," said Hiro Koba, CH-R project director. "So we need to be distinctive. Customers for these vehicles want a crossover for style. They mostly travel alone or with one passenger. So I traded rear room and visibility and luggage space for style."
Europe gets a 1.8-liter hybrid engine which is pretty much a repackage Prius gas-electric engine and a 1.2 turbo gas engine with either a front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive manual transmission or a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). Toyota has yet to reveal what the US CH-R will have under its hood.
The new CH-R drives comfortably well. It offers a smooth ride even when on a rough road. In addition, it gives off a somewhat athletic feel and has just the right amount of grip.
A release date and a price for the 2018 CH-R have yet to be revealed by Toyota. However, it is speculated that it will be priced competitively with the Kia Soul and Nissan's Juke.
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