The Toyota Corolla Cross is an exceptional vehicle. It’s essentially an SUV version of a Corolla, bringing the affordability, reliability, and range of features you’d expect from one of Toyota’s best selling vehicles and adding heaps of practicality on top.
But while the Corolla Cross is objectively a good deal for many US buyers, it could be better. Toyota has left some features out of its US version, while including them for customers in other markets. This even includes an entire trim.
The GR Sport Trim is not available in the US, but that’s not the biggest loss
While a Corolla Cross may not be your first pick if you’re looking for something sporty, a performance-based twist is enough of a selling point for some people. Even on an SUV. Unfortunately, the “GR Sport” which adjusts the vehicle’s tuning and drops its stance, is not available in North America.
In addition to the suspension tweak, which drops the vehicle by a centimeter (or around a third of an inch in Freedom units) the GR Sport adds in paddle shifters and a sport mode that makes engine idling a lot more aggressive.
European Corolla Crosses also feature matrix LEDs in the headlights, which in turn means the vehicles are packing an Adaptive High Beam system. This system dims a section of each headlight so you don’t blind other drivers while still illuminating as much as possible. This is because it can independently control the brightness of each section of the headlight due to the matrix system. The US version just has basic automatic high beams that dip when another vehicle is detected.
The most glaring omission from the US-version of the vehicle is part of Toyota’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system. In other markets, the vehicles come with a “Snow Extra” mode which is specifically calibrated to improve deceleration, cornering, and stability in winter conditions. Which is pretty handy in large parts of the United States.
As for why the feature was left out, we can only speculate. It could be a way to keep costs down. Even if the hardware is there, new features need to be tested and meet NHTSA standards. Testing is quite expensive, and you don’t really want to blow money on an entry-level model. Especially when the included “Electronic On-Demand” system is all most customers will need.
There’s also the matter of making a Corolla Cross a bit too good. “Feature creep” is a real concern with manufacturers, and if a Corolla Cross is a little bit better than it should be, people might buy that instead of something like a RAV4. Though, given the catastrophic shortage of RAV4s at the moment, that may not be a bad thing.
This is something Toyota could fix pretty easily
While the snow extra mode may be missing from the American versions of the Corolla Cross, only the software is absent. In terms of actual parts, both the US and European versions of the vehicle use the same rear electric motor to run the rear axle.
This means, if the demand is there, Toyota could theoretically put the feature through the necessary safety tests then add it to the vehicles via an over the air update. However, if you look at another difference between the European and American Corolla Cross, AWD-i with Snow probably wouldn’t come as standard.
There are a few features that come with the base Corolla Cross in Europe that are packaged at a premium in North America. Take the 10.5-inch center touchscreen and 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster for example. It’s standard in Europe, but only comes with the top level XSE trim in the US.
Toyota, and the Corolla especially, have a reputation for providing great value and a host of features at a near unbeatable price. But despite the Corolla Cross still looking like a solid option in the US, people are plainly getting a better deal on it elsewhere.
