The China-only Toyota Frontlander facelift breaks cover as a more stylish and high-tech twin to the Toyota Corolla Cross.
Since its introduction in 2020, the Toyota Corolla Cross instantly became one of Toyota’s best-selling models in the world. In China, however, the Corolla Cross has a twin known as the Frontlander, and the latest facelift version of this compact SUV looks like a more stylish and hi-tech version of the Cross.
For context, the Frontlander is built by FAW-Toyota, which serves as an alternative to the standard Chinese-market Corolla Cross, which is built by yet another Toyota joint venture in China known as GAC-Toyota.
While the FAW-Toyota’s Frontlander inherits most of the design cues from the recently facelifted global-spec Corolla Cross, the China special does get its own distinctive identity. Up front, the new Frontlander gets a cleaner front grille design that gives it a futuristic, EV-esque look, while the revised front bumper comes with slim openings for cooling.
The rest of the car, however, looks largely similar to the global-spec Corolla Cross, with the other notable differences being the LED taillight signatures and the Frontlander badge on the tailgate.
Dimension-wise, the updated Frontlander is almost identical to the new Corolla Cross facelift, spanning 4,490 mm long, 1,825 mm wide, and 1,625 mm tall with a 2,640 mm wheelbase.
The changes are more prominent as we get inside the facelifted Frontlander, as it swaps the ‘traditional’ Cross cabin for a more minimalistic and hi-tech cabin setup. For starters, the front dash comes in a unique two-tone colourway, with the large 12.9-inch infotainment screen crowning at the centre, accompanied by a smaller 8.8-inch digital metre cluster and slim A/C vents.
Taking cues from modern Chinese EVs, the Frontlander also gets a floating central console that houses a wireless charger, although it still retains a physical gear shifter seen on its global-spec twin. Rounding off the cabin amenities list are sporty powered front seats, ambient lights, two-tone door cards, and an upgraded Toyota Safety Sense ADAS suite.
Despite the EV-inspired design elements, the new Frontlander still runs on combustion engines, where it is offered in either full combustion (ICE) or self-charging hybrid (HEV) guises. The former uses a familiar 2.0-litre 4-cyl nat-asp engine rated at 169 hp that sends all the power to the front wheels (FWD) via a CVT gearbox.
Meanwhile, the HEV version gets a less peppy 2.0-litre 4-cyl engine rated at 156 hp, which is then mated to a 111 hp-rated electric motor and a ternary lithium-ion battery. Similarly, drive is also sent to the front wheels, this time via an e-CVT gearbox.
Prices for the all-new Toyota Frontlander facelift start from CNY 132,800 (RM78,445) for the ICE version and CNY 145,800 (RM86,124) for the hybrid, thus making it significantly more expensive than the pre-facelift model. With the facelifted Corolla Cross already launched in our market late last year, would you prefer this China-only Frontlander over our local-spec model?