Toyota wins top family hybrid

Toyota’s talented C-HR is our top family hybrid, with concept car looks married to an eco-friendly power plant.

‘C-HR’ is supposed to stand for ‘Coupe High-Rider’ and, sure enough, it has a very coupe-style look. The C-HR is being offered with two familiar engines from Toyota’s Auris hatch. The most affordable variant gets a 114bhp 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine and is available with a six-speed manual gearbox or a CVT automatic – and front or all-wheel drive.

Alternatively, buyers can choose a full hybrid powertrain with 120bhp, but that’s 2WD-only. For the C-HR, Toyota has made its hybrid system lighter and more efficient, and engineered it to give sharper performance.

Toyota’s first proper entrant in the Crossover segment should cause quite a stir, styled with a combination of a coupe-like upper body and the powerful underpinnings of an SUV. Coupe-like elements include disguised rear door handles, integrated into the rear pillars. At the rear the strongly tapered cabin features a top-hinged tailgate that gives access to loadspace big enough to carry luggage for five people. This styling contrasts with the pronounced flaring of the wheel arches which gives C-HR a wide and powerful stance.

The proposition here gives you slightly less space than models like Nissan’s Qashqai and Renault’s Kadjar but more fashionable looks and better on-road dynamics.

Hybrid engines are rare in the Crossover segment. In fact, only Kia’s Niro can offer petrol/electric technology in this class and that model looks pretty frumpy compared to this one. It’ll be less efficient, too, for a Hybrid-powered C-HR can return up to 78.5mpg on the combined cycle and up to 82g/km of CO2.

Plenty of people attracted by a model like Nissan’s Juke in the Crossover class would rather have a contender that’ll be slightly bigger, more sophisticated and with a better finish. This is that car.

Toyota’s C-HR offers stylish looks in addition to the efficiency that comes with a hybrid.