Toyota Leverages Legendary Nameplate To Fill Subcompact SUV Niche

Simple marketing ideas sometimes make epic success stories. Like when Alka-Seltzer asked its ad agency how to double sales? The ad man queried … “Can customers take two of these tablets?” The answer was yes … so “Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz” … sales of the product doubled overnight.

Since 1966 the Toyota has sold 50 million Corollas making it one of the top selling nameplates in automobile history. So to fill the subcompact crossover SUV niche vacated as the pioneering Rav4 has grown, leveraging the Corolla brand to create the Corolla Cross was a no downside decision.

And despite cynicism about this kind of tag swapping, the Toyota Corolla Cross name actually works for consumers based on its rep for rock solid reliability. SUV flexibility and 2 liter 4 cylinder, 169 horsepower, 31 City 33 highway mileage adds to the value equation.

By today’s max tech standards, the Toyota Corolla Cross is a no fanfare or frills rig, though notably safety conscious with blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alerts. Even at the base price of $22,445 Apple CarPlay & Android Auto and updated safety features are standard.