Featured Corolla Cross: Could it come to America?

The cute-ute segment has been having some success, and the SUV segment that has seen the most growth is the 'compact' one. Toyota's SUV line up is light on crossovers.

Who at Toyota thought plastic cladding that didn't protect the wheel arch corners was a good idea?

 

2022 Toyota Corolla Cross: What We Know So Far

Apparently one of the “Cross” is coming to America

2022 Toyota Corolla Cross: What We Know So Far

 

It is definite, will debut with a 2.0 L gas engine later this year and a hybrid sometime next year:

2022 Toyota Corolla Cross Makes U.S. Debut and Expands Corolla Lineup - Toyota USA Newsroom

It will be built at a new Toyota/Mazda plant in Alabama:

Mazda Toyota Manufacturing unveils first Alabama production model - Alabama NewsCenter

Mazda and Toyota will share many components. I'm really curious what the Mazda model produced there will be like. Will it be a lot like the Corolla Cross or quite different? Mazda has said that it will offer a Toyota hybrid drivetrain at some point but no other details have been released. I like Mazda Styling, handling and interiors which have gone rather upscale.

 

Regarding the Mazda that will be built at the plant where the Corolla Cross will be made, I love this comment by the head of Mazda North America:

The cars built there will not be “twins separated at birth” — nearly identical vehicles with different badges on the front. Rather, they will be more like children from a blended family: “They’re going to grow up in the same house, but they are totally unique products.”

 

That's what all the manufacturers tell us when they badge engineer cars

 

Rebadging Corolla is nothing new. Once upon a time, GM used to purchase them from Toyota and slap on a "Prizm" badge. They were produced in California, so no one took issue with GM being unwilling to produce small cars themselves.

The reason why is common knowledge. Small cars barely deliver any profit. Some even sell at a loss. The long-term benefit was well worth it though. Those entry-level vehicles were how the automaker established brand loyalty. You catch some new driver when they are young, then hook them for life. Their next purchase was inevitably with the same brand from a vehicle delivering substantial profit.

GM wasn't the other automaker who did that. Ford did too, but they produced their own entry-level car. That was Escort. Ending production of that put them in a pickle. The latest news is Ford will revive the "Maverick" name to now serve that purpose, but it will be a small 4-door pickup instead of a car.

It works, especially knowing how most consumers really don't pay attention enough to notice what the automaker is really doing.

 

There is already a rebadged Corolla.

 

I put about 150K miles on a GEO Prizm and before that about the same on a Chevy Nova (also a rebadged Corolla, not the original Nova) before getting my 1st real Toyota, a real Corolla handed down from my wife. Probably got close to a half million trouble free miles out of the three of them.

 

Damn...yet another vehicle I really like that we don't get there in the USA. I like the extended wagon look of the Swace.

 

It's exactly the same as the Corolla Touring Sports. In length it is longer than a Gen 4 RAV4.

 

US doesn't get the Corolla wagon.

 

Could have called it Matrix?

 

Haha yep...the Corolla wagon is yet *another* vehicle I like that we don't get in the USA.

 

Touring Sports already doesn't cry wagon.

 

The window sticker to my 2004 Matrix had CUV or some three letter acronym in the name.