We know now as 2016 enters its final quarter that a circa-€30,000 SUV can become the best-selling car in Ireland. That's a victory claimed by the Hyundai Tuscon, which is more or less certain to end this year as Ireland's favourite car.
It's a bit of path-finding that may well lead to the success of a rival brand though, as Toyota is about to launch its first-ever rival to the likes of the Tuscon, the Nissan Qashqai and the Kia Sportage and it's this, the C-HR or Coupe-High Rider.
We’ve seen the C-HR touted around the world’s motor shows in concept and production form for the past 24 months but now it’s almost finally here (sales actually start in November) and we have a starting price - €26,850 for a 1.2-litre petrol turbo in the most basic Luna trim. Now, we say basic but that trim will include a big 8” touchscreen as standard (surely the only piece of equipment that anyone cares about anymore) and Toyota Ireland has said that the C-HR will continue its efforts to ‘democratise safety.’ That means that all models will get, as standard, the Toyota Safety Sense pack which includes a Pre-Collision System (including Pedestrian Recognition), Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Departure Alert with steering control, Automatic High Beam and Road Sign Assist.
All fine, you might say, but what about the diesel model? Er, there isn’t one and that makes the C-HR a significant vehicle indeed. It was already significant in that it is Toyota’s first major player in this hugely important slice of the market, but by choosing to not make a diesel version, Toyota is really planting a marker and offering itself as an alternative to supposedly dirty, polluting diesels.
According to Toyota Ireland, there has been “significant growth in its hybrid car sales for 2016 compared to 2015 and a recognisable shift in consumer interest towards choosing alternatives to diesel.” True, diesel’s market share has fallen so far this year compared to 2015, but only by one single percentage point, so Toyota is gambling with a slim hand here.
The Hybrid C-HR’s prices kick off at €29,350 for a Luna model, rising to €31,950 for a Luna Sport and €32,950 for the top-of-the-range Sol. It uses essentially the same hybrid setup at the Prius, so you get a 1.8-litre petrol engine with an electric motor, developing 122hp in combination. Claimed fuel consumption is 3.7-litres per 100km (that’s 76mpg) and it has Co2 emissions of just 88g/km, so you’ll pay a mere €180 a year to tax it. By comparison, the 1.2 turbo has 116hp and Co2 emissions of 139g/km, meaning motor tax of €280.
There’s little doubting which car Toyota is aiming the C-HR at - it actually namechecks the Nissan Qashqai in the press release, noting that in spite of the C-HR’s outwardly compact dimensions, it has the same cabin space as the hugely successful Nissan.
Toyota says that the C-HR “represents Akio Toyoda’s determination to allow greater stylistic freedom and promote engineering creativity in order to achieve eye-catching designs and enhanced driving pleasure.” Will that chime with Irish car buyers? Will the lack of a diesel torpedo its chances? And can it beat the Tuscon to next year’s best-seller title? We’ll begin finding out in November.
