Toyota Australia has uploaded a new video to its YouTube page, and it features the Toyota C-HR. The compact SUV, which features very bold styling to tempt buyers away from the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3, will be reaching Down Under in 2017, according to the 26-second clip. We’re looking at the shape of the future, Toyota says.

Unveiled at this year’s Geneva show, the production C-HR is slated to roll off Toyota’s Sarkaya plant in Turkey as well as the Miyagi plant in Japan later this year. Thailand, a major regional hub for Toyota, has to be on the list as well.

Australia is a right-hand drive market in the Asia Pacific region, and like our market, is an importer of Thai-made Japanese cars. Will the C-HR also hit ASEAN countries next year? I can imagine local reps UMW Toyota licking their lips in anticipation – the big T is seriously under-represented in the booming SUV market, where each of its rivals have something to offer in our market (the Rush isn’t sophisticated enough).

The C-HR is built on the modular Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA), the second car to be built on the platform after the new Prius. The driving dynamics are said to be a match for the precision and control of a modern C-segment hatch thanks to the new platform’s refinement and low centre of gravity, allowing the C-HR to “carry its speed through corners with excellent body control and steering fluidity.”

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Japan will get a 2.0 litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine with 150 PS and 193 Nm of torque at 3,800 rpm, paired to a CVT and FWD. Should this configuration reach our shores, the C-HR will have 8 PS/21 Nm more than the Honda HR-V 1.8, but 6 PS/11 Nm less than the Mazda CX-3 2.0. There’s also a 116 PS/185 Nm 1.2 litre turbo engine (CVT and 6MT, with AWD) and a hybrid.

Measuring 4,350 mm long, 1,795 mm wide and 1,550 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,640 mm, the C-HR is 56 mm longer, 23 mm wider but 55 mm lower than the HR-V. The Toyota’s wheelbase is also 30 mm longer. The interior is still a mystery. CH-R – what do you think?

GALLERY: Toyota C-HR at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show

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