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The European-market Toyota Yaris Cross – built separately from Australian models – has received another facelift, with styling traits from the new RAV4.
The Toyota Yaris Cross hybrid city SUV – dating back to 2020 – has received another facelift in Europe, but it has yet to be confirmed for Australia, as our version is built in a different factory.
Set to go on sale in Europe later this year, the 2026 Toyota Yaris Cross introduces a honeycomb mesh-pattern front grille inspired by newer Toyota models, including the RAV4, Corolla Cross and HiLux.
However, the update is no guarantee for Australia, as European versions are manufactured in France, while local examples are sourced from Japan.
Drive has contacted Toyota Australia for comment.
The Yaris Cross is one of the best-selling vehicles in Europe, and is Toyota's highest-selling model in the region – where smaller cars and SUVs dominate – ahead of the related Yaris hatchback.
Toyota has also introduced a revised headlight design, new 17- and 18-inch alloy wheels, and two fresh exterior colours – Precious Bronze and Persian Salt, the latter replacing Shimmering Silver.
The GR Sport grade has also received a dedicated front bumper design for the first time on the Yaris Cross, matching the Corolla Cross and RAV4 GR Sport grades, with a look similar to the GR Yaris and GR Corolla hot hatches.
Inside, the Yaris Cross has gained improved seat comfort and "better lateral support", along with a platinum-coloured door trim and instrument panel insert.
Certain grades add a new 'SakuraTouch' seat material made from plant-derived plastic, waste cork and recycled polyurethane, which is claimed to reduce CO2 emissions during production by 95 per cent compared with genuine leather.
The European-market Yaris Cross was last updated in 2024, with improvements to noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), along with an available 10.5-inch infotainment touchscreen and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.
French-built examples, including the Yaris hatchback, also received an upgraded version of their 1.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid system, with a more powerful electric motor-generator and revised power control unit, bumping its combined output from 85kW to 96kW.
Fewer changes were applied to the Japanese-built version, with an 8-inch central touchscreen running new infotainment software, a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, and upgrades to its active safety technology and exterior design.
The larger 10.5-inch touchscreen was introduced to the Yaris and Yaris Cross in Japan in February 2026, but has yet to be announced for Australia.
Japanese-sourced, Australian-market Yaris Crosses continue to utilise the older version of its hybrid system, with 85kW.
Australian new-car sales data shows the Yaris Cross is the second-best-selling city SUV with 2456 examples reported as sold to the end of March, behind the Mazda CX-3 (3489), now in its 11th year on sale and still lacking hybrid technology.
The Toyota is ahead of the Kia Stonic (1437), the Hyundai Venue (1352), Volkswagen T-Cross (267) and the Suzuki Fronx (132), the latter of which was affected by a stop-sale order due to a seatbelt failure identified during ANCAP crash-testing late last year.
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
