Bangkok 2017: Toyota C-HR Hybrid Previewed Ahead Of 2018 Thailand Debut

At the today’s opening of the 2017 Thailand International Motor Expo, Toyota Motor Thailand has opened its order books for the C-HR. Prices have yet to be announced but it is estimated to start upwards of THB 900,000, which is quite competitive considering that a Honda HR-V starts at THB 933,000.

Due to be assembled in Thailand next year, the Thai-market C-HR will be offered with two engines options – a 1.8-litre naturally aspirated petrol and a 1.8-litre petrol-electric hybrid. The petrol variant will be exported to Malaysia but the hybrid variant will remain only for domestic sales.

Inside, the C-HR Hybrid looks almost identical to the regular model. Among the few notable differences are the slightly different instrument cluster and the gear lever.

In the hybrid variant, the regular car’s tachometer has been replaced with an analogue hybrid status indicator. The gear lever remains the same, but instead of having a Manual mode (to select the CVT’s seven ‘virtual ratios’), it has a B mode (Engine Braking, for driving downhill). There’s also an additional EV Mode button next to the Auto Brake Hold button.

As for the boot space, at a glance the depth of the boot floor looks almost identical to a regular C-HR but we can’t confirm that yet. In any case, the C-HR Hybrid’s high voltage battery is located under the rear passenger seat so we wouldn’t be surprised if its boot space is unaffected.

The C-HR is expected to be launched in Thailand early next year, with exports to Malaysia (1.8-litre naturally aspirated petrol model only) likely to commence shortly after that.