Toyota C-HR Concept Officially Revealed Ahead of Paris Debut

Remember the Toyota C-HR Concept we previewed last week?

At the time, all he had to go on was a single darkened teaser image of the crossover’s silhouette, and even that lacked detail. Fortunately for us, this weekend Toyota revealed a full rendering of their new small SUV concept. Take a look for yourself below:

Just as a reminder, here’s what we’ve already said about the Toyota C-HR Concept:

First, it will debut at the upcoming Paris Motor Show early next month. Second, it will probably be a prequel to a new Toyota Auris Cross, a mule of which we’ve already seen testing at the Nürburgring. Finally, we know that Toyota is introducing the concept as “a vision for a hybrid-powered compact crossover that displays an emphatic new design language.”

Now, here’s what’s new:

Given the quirky aesthetic seen in the new C-HR renderings Toyota has released for us, it’s clearer than ever exactly who this compact crossover is aimed at. Let there be no doubt – this is a Nissan Juke fighter.

Unfortunately, Toyota didn’t give us any new information about the concept’s technology or performance specs. What they did give us with these two new images, though, is more information about the specific styling cues you’ll find in the C-HR, as well as what those themes mean for future Toyota vehicles.

The Japanese automaker describes the C-HR’s new aesthetic as a “diamond styling theme”. The name apparently comes from the way “the lower bodywork has been sculpted to create faceted surfaces, like the precision cutting of a gemstone.” They further explained that the front end of the car can be seen as a forward development of Toyota’s current design language; whereas the roofline and the rear are more of a theoretical future direction for Toyota’s aesthetic.

Honestly, more than anything these new images imply that the C-HR Concept is NOT meant to directly preview a real-world vehicle… At least, not without some major modifications. To us, the C-HR study’s primary purpose is to gauge interest in a best-case-scenario Toyota Juke, and to remind the world that they can, in fact, design cool-looking cars when they try.

There’s no denying that these two new renderings of the Toyota C-HR Concept have gotten us a lot more excited about the new crossover prototype. However, it would be very, very surprising if the best parts of this concept’s design – those gem-cut wheels, the floating roof and taillights, the redesigned bumper – ever made it into a real-world vehicle under the Auris name. So, either this C-HR doesn’t preview an Auris, or it’s entirely unrealistic and theoretical.

Either way, we’re still very excited to see the C-HR make its debut at the Paris Motor Show next month. Stay tuned for more information when the hybrid crossover concept makes its appearance.