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Toyota Puts Its Creative Pants On for Geneva with the C-HR Crossover

Generally speaking, Toyota's cars are so boring, it even bores us to talk about how boring they are. Sure, there are the occasional exceptions like the almost-great GT86 or the perky little Aygo, but the bulk of the cars made by the Japanese manufacturer are to be found waiting for their owners in front of the Bingo parlor.
Toyota C-HR 19 photos
Photo: Guido ten Brink / SB-Medien
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"Yes," you'll say, "but they have the Scion brand that's specifically targeted at a young audience." Yeah, and how did that one work out for them? Well, Scion's demise overlapped with this new C-HR crossover is probably not a coincidence: Toyota will still make cars for the youth, but they will be sold under the mother brand's name.

This could confuse a little the Bingo-attending crowd, but at the same time, they know they want a Corolla so they'll just walk straight to the sales person and ignore everything else in the showroom. For the rest of us, though, this newly found creativity and design boldness do put us in an awkward situation: the largely predictable brand that rules the world is going slightly mad.

Slightly? By Toyota's standards of old, the C-HR looks like a concept to a concept. And yet, it's the real deal. Sick of all the success Nissan had with the oddball that goes by the name of Juke, Toyota applied a similar recipe and came up with a car that's just as weird as the new Prius, only ten times better looking. At least for those of us who live outside of Japan's borders.

Definitely not one for the families with claustrophobic kids, the C-HR makes no compromises when it comes to design. This philosophy is pushed so far that it almost made the C-HR the first car with five doors and no windows for two of them, but eventually, they were able to find a few square inches to fit in some glass. It's not ideal for families with short kids, either, as the rear doors' handle is placed almost on the roof.

No matter how these things might sound, they should not be interpreted as a critic towards the C-HR. No, we're incredibly happy to see something like this from Toyota, and can't wait to see what other products this new direction brings.

As for the powertrains, the launching C-HR is a hybrid, and judging by the rest of the alternatives, this option makes the most sense. Developed on the same TNGA modular platform as the new Prius, the C-HR Hybrid Synergy Drive offers a not very enticing 120 hp, but let's not ask Toyota for a complete makeover here and just settle for the improved design. Other available powertrains sound equally discouraging, with the Euro market likely to get the 1.2-liter turbo in the Auris, while over in the US a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated gasoline engine is the most powerful alternative.

So it's not all great news from Toyota, but it's a start. A very positively looking one. Now if the Japanese could also sort out the ride and the powertrains, we could be speaking about a new crossover with a genuine chance of becoming a worldwide hit. Whether the design alone will be enough remains to be seen.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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