Toyota's new baby SUV arriving February

Toyota's Australia's first compact crossover won't just be a jacked-up Corolla when it arrives in local showrooms in late February.

The nation's top-selling vehicle brand is spruiking the new model as a "premium" entrant in the compact SUV space, with a striking new design paired with advanced driver aids as standard on all models.

The standard safety suite will include adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure alert with steering control, automatically dimming high-beam headlights and a reversing camera.

One engine will be offered — a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine delivering 85kW of power and 185Nm of torque.

It'll be offered in two grades, the C-HR and high-end C-HR Koba, the latter model adding 18-inch alloy wheels, leather accented seats, plus a smart entry and engine start system. Two-tone paintwork with different colour roofs will also be available in Australia.

But all this high-end Lexus-like equipment won't come cheap.

Mike Breen, Toyota Australia's public relations manager, wouldn't be drawn on pricing for the crucial new model, but said it would be positioned to rival the Nissan QASHQAI, which is pegged between $26,000 and $40,000.

It's motoring.com.au's understanding that Toyota is shooting for a circa-$27,000 entry price for the C-HR, while the C-HR Koba will be closer to $30,000.

That's far higher than initial starting price estimates of around $20,000, in line with Mazda's top-selling CX-3, and would only narrowly undercut the cheapest (2WD) version of Toyota's own RAV4 (from $28,550).

Breen noted that pricing would be confirmed at the 11th hour when the car launches in Australia in late February next year.

"We go down to the wire with pricing, we have continuous negotiations with TMC Japan," he said.

Quizzed over whether the new model would be a big seller for the brand, like the RAV4 and Corolla, Breen was cautious.

"It's our first entry into the [compact SUV] market, we'll just have to wait and see. We'll sell as many as we can get and price it as competitively as we can, as we always try to do."

Australian versions of the Toyota C-HR, which stands for "compact high rider", will come from Japan, while European customers get a Turkish-built vehicle.

A six-speed manual, front-wheel drive version will be the entry-level model, with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) AWD drivetrain powering versions the range-topping C-HR Koba.

The CVT will also be offered as an option on base front-drive models.

After the new Prius, the C-HR is only the second car to be based on Toyota's new TNGA platform, or Toyota New Global Architecture, and comes with plenty of advanced safety features.

Toyota Australia will be shooting for the highest possible five-star ANCAP safety rating, says Breen, but it's not yet clear how many airbags Aussie versions of the car will get.

"We always strive to make [our cars] five-star. TMC's objective is always to be five-star but we can't say until they test it," said Breen.

"It's going to have pre-collision with autonomous braking standard on all models. You'll see a high level of safety spec across the range."

Although the price point may be higher than first anticipated, this is clearly not a basic vehicle with all its advanced driver aids.

Breen said the new model will be pitched at younger buyers but expects a broad cross-section of motorists to gravitate towards the new model, which is one of the edgiest designs from the Japanese company yet.

"It's the 86 sports car in an all-wheel drive, crossover body shape. So we hope younger customers look at it and come to Toyota for maybe the first time. It's a car that appeals to the young and the young at heart. I think it'll cross a wide range of age groups."

Toyota Australia's PR boss said the vehicle was crucial because it hasn't played in the compact SUV segment yet.

"It's a segment we've been lacking in for a while. So this is our first opportunity to make an impression in that segment, so it means a lot."

Toyota sells more SUVs than any other car brand in Australia, setting a record in 2015 with 59,412 SUVs.

Click here to read our first drive of Toyota's vital new baby SUV.