Photo: Halo oto / YouTube
General Motors and Toyota have been battling it out for the sales crown and the U.S. auto market throne harder than ever this year: After the first six months of the year, GM had a slim lead of more than $100,000 over its rival from the land of the rising sun. Of course, both companies are working hard to increase awareness and excitement about their brands: GM has recently introduced new or refreshed models like the 2025 Chevy Corvette ZR1, the GMC Terrain and Yukon, or the 2025 Cadillac Escalade.
Meanwhile, Toyota is banking on the reputation of its premium Lexus brand and the broad model range of its namesake brand. Speaking of the latter, we've seen new releases like the all-new 2025 Crown Signia crossover Off-roadthe GR86 Hakone Edition, or the 1794 Sequoia and the 2025 Tundra TRD Rally, among others. But it seems people want even more, including new crossover SUVs.
Many would think that the compact RAV4 would have a new generation around the corner, given that it was introduced in 2018 in its fifth-generation XA50, but sales are going so well that it is safe to say that we will not see a new one until 2025 at the earliest. Therefore, even the parallel universes of vehicular CGI have started to look in other directions.
As far as the imaginative realm of automotive digital content creators goes, the next best thing to the RAV4 in the U.S. lineup of compact crossover SUVs is, of course, the slightly cheaper and much more boring 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross. It starts at $23,860 compared to the RAV4’s $28,675, and can also be had with a hybrid powertrain starting at $28,220 instead of $31,275.
As such, here is the Halo oto channel on YouTube, which provides fresh automotive information backed up by their virtual projects; now, there are some new CGI ideas on the compact CUV that is undergoing an update procedure in America, just like it has already happened in other regions. This is an unofficial and hypothetical design project, so take all renderings from the resident pixel master with a grain of salt until there is something official from Toyota itself.
Meanwhile, the CGI-redesigned 2026 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid gets a more powerful electrified setup and several tweaks up front, including slimmer headlights, a different, closed-off grille, and slightly redesigned taillights. There are no digital images of the interior, though, perhaps that’s reserved for an upcoming cabin-focused video. So, what do you think?
