Toyota is making 'more fun-to-drive and less appliance-like' cars such as the C-HR SUV

Toyota is bringing its strange aesthetics into the mainstream with the new C-HR SUV, which had its public debut in March at the Geneva Motor Show. The car is taking the ongoing crossover SUV evolution further, away from "Utility" and closer to "S," which stands for "sport" and "style."

The Japanese automaker, which is typically conservative when it comes to vehicle designs has been becoming aggressive and showed what it can do with the designs of Mirai fuel-cell and Prius hybrid, according to Forbes. The new small SUV C-HR is taking its design innovation further.

The Toyota C-HR SUV has "four doors and a hatch, but it's not a hatchback," said Vice President Andrew Gilleland of Scion during the unveiling of the C-HR concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. "It's large, with room for five, but it's not an SUV. And it's got a fast-sloping roofline, but it's not a sports car."

Unlike before when Toyota vehicles had complex shapes, the car is aimed to appeal to urban hipsters. It is weird because it has a "compact" size with a "high ride," and that what C-HR stands for, Gilleland said during the LA auto show. The car does not exactly fit into any category, much to the delight of Toyota and its customers.

During the unveiling of the C-HR at the Geneva auto show, EVP of Sales Functions Karl Schlicht of Toyota Motor Europe declared there will be no more boring Toyota cars. He stressed the car's production design changed a bit from the concept which departs from the company's past practices. Thanks to Toyota Chief Executive and President Akio Toyoda, a car enthusiast himself who is about to make the firm's vehicles more fun to drive and less appliance-like.

The Toyota C-HR SUV would likely appear in United States showrooms in the spring of 2017. As the price is still to be announced, it could be somewhere near RAV4 which starts at about $24,000.

The Japanese automaker is also considering a CH-R performance version to compete with Nissan's Juke Nismo so the company could contend with the emerging hot crossover market. It has no concrete plans for a performance C-HR but C-HR Lead Engineer Hiro Koba is pushing for such a car and needs approval, Autocar UK reported.

The new Toyota C-HR is featured in the video below.