After a long year with numerous introductions, Toyota is probably taking some time off before continuing to push the tidal wave of novelties. No worries, the rumor mill is eager to fill in the blanks, meanwhile.
Since the beginning of the year – if we only take the North American market as the use case scenario – there have been numerous releases and very few facelifts. The Prius 'Hybrid Reborn,' the 2024 Grand Highlander, the N400 Tacoma, and the 2024 Land Cruiser all count as all-new models.
On the other hand, the Japanese automaker also gave us lots of incremental novelties like the 2023 Corolla Cross Hybrid, the trio of 2024 GR special editions (GR86 Trueno, GR Corolla, GR Supra 45th Anniversary), 2023 Prius Prime, 2024 Camry, and more. So, where are the facelifts?
Well, if they're absent in the real world – although we are pretty sure many people are craving refreshed stuff – that doesn't necessarily reflect the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. For example, the Halo oto channel on YouTube always strives to provide fresh automotive info that is corroborated with their virtual designs; now, there are some CGI ideas about a facelifted 2024 or 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross compact crossover SUV.
The Japanese automaker invented the nameplate as a compact crossover SUV and entered production in 2020 as a more practical but only marginally larger alternative to the quirky C-HR. In time, it has grown to completely replace the latter in the US range thanks to its inherent modularity and relation to the E210-series Corolla. Built on the same TNGA-C platform, it is still positioned below the best-selling RAV4 with a starting MSRP of $23,610 for the 2023 Corolla Cross and $27,790 for the Corolla Cross Hybrid.
However, the channel's host believes Toyota might prepare a mid-cycle refresh for the 2024 or 2025 model year of the compact CUV to ensure it keeps its popularity up, up, and away. Also, many have noticed the Corolla Cross is not the best-looking compact CUV out there, so the resident pixel master had the CGI work cut out for them. Ultimately, the result is quite outstanding – but it also has nothing to do with Toyota's current styling for the compact Corolla series.
As such, do take all these renderings with a larger-than-usual pinch of salt, as nothing is official just yet from Toyota. However, it would be interesting to see if the Japanese carmaker does come up with a refresh of the Corolla Cross sometime early next year and then also introduces the world to the Corolla Cross-based unibody pickup truck that might be the best asset in an upcoming fight with the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz on the US car market.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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