2024 Toyota Corolla Cross facelift imagined

The Toyota Corolla Cross isn't exactly struggling in its appeal to Australian buyers, with nearly 2600 examples sold in 2022 – despite having only launched in November – and 511 finding homes in February 2023.

The Corolla Cross's rivals in the small-SUV segment include the price-friendly MG ZS (22,466 sales in 2022), the style-driver Mazda CX-30 (13,891), elder statesman Mitsubishi ASX (12,753), the soon to be superseded Hyundai Kona (11,538) and the newly facelifted Kia Seltos (8504), among a handful of others.

Whether the Corolla Cross will overtake the top-sellers in 2023 is hard to call from here, although its February result outdid the CX-30 (481). Others fared better, like the Kona (659), ASX (642), Eclipse Cross (823), the new Qashqai (682) and perennial value king, the MG ZS (2047).

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Above: the recently refreshed Corolla Cross undergoing Wheels COTY 2023 testing

So, we've come to wonder: is the Corolla Cross just not handsome enough to compete?

The hybrid spec has proved popular, and Toyota's reputation for reliability always helps with a buying decision – but many buyers are driven by either price or style, as shown by the popularity of the Corolla Cross's key rivals.

Would a stylish facelift help the Corolla Cross leapfrog the competition to take over the small-SUV segment?

To see how that might look, we've put together some speculative renderings of a facelifted Corolla Cross – which might debut in late 2023 or early 2024, around three to four years after it first hit the global stage in 2020. (It's had a mild facelift since then, but nothing dramatic.)

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Crown and Prius-inspired style

For inspiration, we looked to Toyota's newest models like the Crown family and the new Prius – neither of which are planned to be offered in Australia, but we'd expect to see those styling themes eventually reach our market.

At the front end, we've got the big T's new hooked lighting design, with the lower section joined through the centre of the nose by a silver bar that hides a suite of active safety systems.

To accommodate this design, the Corolla Cross's huge grille moves further down into the bumper, flanked by sporty new foglight housings.

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The buttlift

The Prius- and Crown-inspired styling continues at the rear, with sharper new tail lamps connected through an LED-light or reflector-emblazoned bar, replacing the Toyota badge with Corolla Cross lettering – as is the trend of the moment in automotive design.

Could Toyota handle the idea of ditching its famous badge at this end of the car? It's not uncommon in Japan, where Toyota cars are often sold with their own model-specific badging, but the Australian arm might not be quite as confident.

What do you think of our redesigned Corolla Cross? Let us know in the comments below!