Toyota’s hybrid crossover concept inches toward production
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Company looks to shake up the hybrid market with its C-HR concept
Toyota’s updated C-HR concept. The company hopes to have a production-ready model on display early next year. PHOTO: Toyota
FRANKFURT, Germany—Toyota premiered its C-HR concept, at the Paris Motor Show in 2014 as an exploration model that could add some diversity to a relatively homogenous market. Now, the compact hybrid crossover has received a face-lift and the company is moving toward developing a mass-market version in “the not-so-distant future.”
“The concept is visually distinctive, thanks to its expressive diamond-inspired styling, packed full of eye-catching details that have been sculpted and chamfered to represent the facetted surfaces of a precision-cut gemstone,” Toyota said.
“The vehicle builds on two key elements of Toyota’s design language―Keen Look and Under Priority―to create a bold, emphatic front profile that emphasizes the lower grille as well as increasing aerodynamic performance, cooling, and pedestrian safety,” it added.
The updated concept has shifted from a three-door to a five-door format, and altered the roof’s colour scheme has be changed from a complex, two-tone version to a uniform glossy black.
Toyota said it aims to give the concept an engine with thermal efficiency of over 40 percent, as well as further improving fuel efficiency by making the hybrid system – including the motor and battery ― smaller and more lightweight.
The company hopes to show a production-ready model at the Geneva International Motor Show in March 2016.
