Toyota rewrote its best-selling recipe, and the result already looks like a shrunken RAV4
200,000 buyers a year, and Toyota still tore the recipe apart. The 2027 Yaris Cross lands in Spain with a sharper face, richer kit and a rare trick rivals can't match — all-wheel drive.
Toyota rarely touches what already outsells everything else. But with the Yaris Cross, that is exactly what it did. The updated 2027 crossover has just gone on sale in Spain — orders are open, and the first cars reach owners in September. And this is no box-ticking facelift. The Yaris Cross became Toyota's best-selling model in Europe: 200,000 units found buyers in 2025 alone.
The crossover has been visually pulled toward its bigger siblings — it now looks like a RAV4 shrunk down to city size. The kit is richer, the hybrid powertrain stays put, and with it comes a rarity for the class: AWD-i all-wheel drive. The entry price is 27,500 euros for the Yaris Cross 1.5 Hybrid 130 in Active trim.
Here is how the rest of the range reads: the Style version starts at 29,000 euros, GR Sport at 29,800 euros, and the range-topping Style Plus Premiere at 31,400 euros. All-wheel drive is not offered everywhere: the Hybrid 130 AWD-i in Style trim runs 31,500 euros, while the Style Plus Premiere AWD-i asks 33,900 euros.
And yes, all those figures already include Toyota's launch discounts and promotions. Even the base car impresses: 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a 10.5-inch multimedia screen, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, automatic climate control, an electric parking brake, a rear-view camera, front and rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control and a full suite of safety systems with multiple airbags.
The Style grade adds 18-inch wheels, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, heated front seats, a power tailgate with hands-free opening and blind-spot monitoring. GR Sport plays the character card: a body kit, two-tone paint, signature 18-inch GR Sport wheels and leather-and-Alcantara upholstery. And for extra money there is the Plus pack — with a sunroof, head-up display and a JBL sound system.
Under the hood, no surprises — and that is a good thing. The core Hybrid 130 version pairs a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor. Total output is 130 hp and 185 Nm, with an e-CVT gearbox. In some countries the lesser Hybrid 116 system carries on — 116 hp and 141 Nm.
By default the Yaris Cross is front-wheel drive. But the Hybrid 130 unlocks the AWD-i versions: a separate electric motor hides on the rear axle, engaging when grip is lost and helping at speeds up to 70 km/h. It will not turn the car into an off-roader — but on wet roads, snow, gravel and steep climbs this setup earns its keep where ordinary front-wheel drive gives up.
Toyota quotes average fuel economy of 4.4 l/100 km on the WLTP cycle. That efficiency was the whole point: thanks to the hybrid, the Yaris Cross earns Spain's ECO eco-label — and with it, perks for driving and parking in cities with restrictions.
Toyota did not turn its best-seller into an experiment. It simply reinforced what buyers already come for: an efficient hybrid, a compact body, practical kit — and all-wheel drive where most rivals simply do not offer it.