Toyota C-HR concept

Add the Toyota C-HR crossover concept to your list of new cars to see at the Paris motor show next week.

When Toyota launched the original RAV4 in 1994, it also introduced a new market segment: the crossover. Over the past 20 years, rather like the crossover segment, the RAV4 has grown much larger in size while morphing into a more traditional small SUV. Over the course of its four generations, the RAV4 has lost much of its original distinctiveness.

This C-segment show car not only previews Toyota's intention to enter the lucrative half-SUV, half-coupe market, but is also a preview of a new Toyota design language. Its graphics appear a little less brutal than recent new Toyotas, with a (thankfully) more modest lower grille, while its floating rear lamps are yet another sign that this is a motor show that will be dominated by aerodynamically overt designs.

But while its graphics may be a little softer, its surfacing redresses the balance by introducing what Toyota is calling ‘diamond styling', with an emphasis on faceted surfaces. It's difficult to comment on the success of this new direction from the first images, but it certainly poses some interesting solutions, particularly around the bodyside. These are formed of arrow-shaped graphics, formed from two creases that run up from the rocker and down from the DLO behind the door shut. This surface forms a crease that runs back under the rear lamps, giving an extruded luggage space, tapered rear and a hint of dynamism that's reinforced by the FT-1-style vents in the bumper.

Look out for further details from our CDNLive blog from Paris next Thursday and Friday where we'll be able to see if the hints of Hyundai Veloster and Renault Captur concept are less obvious in real life.

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