Toyota Considering Corolla-Sized “Hot Crossover” With 268-HP GR Yaris Engine?

A GR-ified Corolla Cross could be in the cards for Americans.

It looks like Toyota is serious about bringing another GR model to the U.S. market, but it's definitely not going to be the wild all-wheel-drive, turbocharged, subcompact GR Yaris, according to a tweet yesterday from Toyota USA and some text on a GR website it set up. That leads us to believe there is a new crossover coming to America to slot in between the RAV4 and C-HR, and it might get a rally-bred GR powertrain.

Let's put a few puzzle pieces together and try and suss out what Toyota could be on about with this tweet. A couple years back, The Drive noticed that Toyota had filed trademarks for the "Corolla Cross" name in more than 13 countries. It's a naming convention we're now familiar with, because the adorable Yaris Cross—a lightly crossover-ivied version of the rest-of-world Toyota Yaris—is going to be sold in Japan and Europe, but not here. Its sportier cousin is the GR Yaris, on the same platform as the Yaris Cross and powered by an outrageous 268-horsepower turbocharged three-cylinder engine. Toyota has confirmed that the GR Yaris is definitely not coming stateside, either.

The reason is simple, as Bob Carter, Toyota Motor North America executive vice president, told us back in February. "U.S. and North America have the harshest crash tests in the world so it's not homologated for the U.S. That's why you see so few B [segment] platforms." It's too hard and too expensive to certify the Euro/Japanese Yaris, Yaris Cross, and GR Yaris. Fair enough. But what about something larger?

It's something that Carter hinted at in that conversation. "It's possible that we bring something else," he said. Automakers generally don't comment about future product, so for this sort of hint to drop, it's clear that this is something that Toyota was both seriously considering and also wanting to float by the public, to gauge feedback on the idea of a GR-ified Toyota of some flavor. Yesterday's tweet is further indication that Toyota has heard the positive response the GR Yaris received, and is also being realistic about the sales prospects of a tiny and presumably very expensive hatchback in the U.S. Something else to carry the GR banner here, other than the Supra, seems like a smart move to us if the GR performance sub-brand wants to stay relevant here.

That's a strategy that other major automakers have adopted. Take Ford's Bronco Sport and the new Escape. Both occupy the same basic segment, but one is heavily skewed towards slick on-road manners and the other will adopt a rough-and-tumble, active lifestyle image. The Escape hopes to appeal to buyers that would otherwise buy a Focus or Fusion (both discontinued), and the Bronco Sport will attract buyers interested in other brands like Subaru and Jeep. There's no reason Toyota can't adapt the basic strategy and stack two or three nameplates below the RAV4.

Whatever ends up rolling off the line at Huntsville, chances are it'll be interesting. Whether it's a production FT-4X or a crossover with a fire-breathing three-cylinder engine, we can't wait to see it.