Will Toyota PH launch facelifted Corolla Cross this April?

TMP announces vehicle launch scheduled for April 12

Toyota Motor Philippines won’t be one of the participating brands at the upcoming Manila International Auto Show, but there’s still a reason to watch out for the Japanese auto giant this April.

TMP has sent out a “Save The Date” message to members of the media, hinting at an upcoming launch of a new electrified Toyota.

There are a lot of electrified Toyotas to think of in their current lineup, but one does not need to go far in guessing what it is. Last month, the facelifted Toyota Corolla Cross made its debut in Southeast Asia, and we have good reason to think that this might be the one coming to the country next month.

The ASEAN-spec Corolla Cross facelift was done differently compared to the European and Japanese market versions. Standard versions get a Lexus-style honeycomb grille integrated into the bumper, while the GR-S version remains largely unchanged.

There’s also a larger infotainment screen inside the new Corolla Cross, along with new digital graphics for the instrument cluster. However, the most notable change seen inside is the switch to an electronic parking brake instead of the foot-operated ones in the current version.

In Thailand, the 1.8-liter non-hybrid is still carried over to the facelifted version. But for the Philippine market, there are reasons to think TMP won’t be offering that engine anymore. Based on public documents from the LTO, the new Corolla Cross could come with only a 122 PS hybrid powerplant with nickel metal hydride batteries (Ni-MH).

Furthermore, Toyota dealers and TMP themselves have been offering big discounts for the Corolla Cross since last month. The brand might be doing this to shift the remaining inventories of the current model and make way for the new ones.

Speaking of pricing, the new Corolla Cross may be offered from just under PHP 1.5 million for the entry-level variant to a little over PHP 1.9 million for the top-spec GR-S variant based on some industry sources. If that is indeed true, then the entry-level Corolla Cross could overlap with the price range of the smaller Yaris Cross as the latter’s top-spec version already costs PHP 1.598 million.

But either way, it’s still Toyota Motor Philippines that gets the sale regardless of which model is picked. That being said, April 12 is just a few weeks away. Watch this space for further updates.