By Bennett Oghifo
Toyota has reinforced its “continuous improvement” mantra by introducing new features that advance the appeal of its stylish C-HR crossover, 4WD LandCruiser 70 Series workhorse and its best-selling RAV4 SUV.
C-HR benefits from a significant upgrade to safety and convenience, while the LC70 Series range is equipped for the first time with satellite navigation and RAV4 gains new features that further enhance its comfort and convenience.
Toyota Australia Vice President Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley said regular model upgrades kept faith with customers and helped foster a remarkable loyalty to the market-leading brand.
“Toyota moves as quickly as possible to ensure customers benefit from new and upgraded features that improve safety, increase comfort or just make their life behind the wheel easier,” Mr Hanley said.
“As people look to explore their own backyard more as we come out of COVID restrictions, driving holidays – whether they be extended trips or a quick weekend away – will be high on the agenda and the improvements we have made to our SUV and workhorse models that deliver greater safety, comfort and connectivity will make those trips even more enjoyable,” he said.
Upgraded Toyota Safety Sense technologies for C-HR enhance the model’s ability to avoid crashes or minimise their impact by detecting and, if necessary, braking to help avoid other vehicles and pedestrians across a wider range of situations.
Using an on-board camera and radar, C-HR’s pre-collision system1 now incorporates the ability to detect pedestrians at night, not just during the day. It has also been further refined to detect cyclists in daylight.
New features include the ability to provide a warning and automatically brake the vehicle when turning at intersections to avoid oncoming vehicles, as well as pedestrians crossing the road1.
The new addition of Toyota’s Emergency Steering Assist function (ESA) will also help maintain stability and help prevent the vehicle swerving into another lane during an emergency steering manoeuvre1.
C-HR’s sophisticated lane-keeping technology has been advanced beyond the audible and visual warnings, to what is known as Lane Trace Assist (LTA). This system provides gentle steering assistance that helps the driver keep the vehicle in the centre of their intended lane.
It does this by providing steering assistance based on lane markings, the position of the vehicle in the lane ahead, and the boundary lines between the road and adjacent grass, soil or kerb.
C-HR is also equipped with a new road-sign assist feature that indicates speed-limit changes, which can also be used to reset the vehicle’s cruise-control speed setting.
In addition, the Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA) system1 on high-grade C-HR Koba further supports safe reversing by automatically applying the brakes if it detects an imminent collision with a stationary or moving object.
Entry-level C-HR is now designated GXL and gains the convenience of keyless smart entry and push-button ignition.
C-HR – with 1.2-litre 2WD and AWD variants and a Koba-only 2WD 1.8-litre hybrid powertrain – has out-performed the market this year, lifting its share of the affordable small SUV segment to 10.3 per cent from 9.8 per cent.
Toyota’s LandCruiser 70 Series models – in cab chassis, wagon and iconic Troop Carrier variants – provide new creature comforts for hard-core off-road enthusiasts who rely on the vehicle’s outstanding 4WD capability.
For the first time, all variants in the 4.5-litre V8 turbo-diesel workhorse range gain a multimedia system with a 6.1-inch touch screen that incorporates satellite navigation with voice recognition and Bluetooth connectivity.
Owners will also appreciate two front USB ports, a 12-Volt accessory power input, a larger smartphone holder and the addition of a cupholder in the passenger-door bin.
The final set of updates applies to RAV4, which was Australia’s best-selling model last month with 4,309 sales with a staggering 88 per cent of the total being hybrid.
RAV4 GX petrol and hybrid variants gain smart start ignition. The GX is also fitted with a premium steering wheel, four extra USB ports (5 in total), and front and rear carpet mats. Cruiser variants now have auto-folding power door mirrors.
