As expected, it’s hybrid only, but just a single edition will come with a function commonly associated with a sports utility … all-wheel-drive.

NO pure petrol but, surprisingly, given that’s being promoted as a light sports utility, just one with all-wheel-drive.

That’s the lay of the land with the Toyota Corolla Cross, with Toyota New Zealand having now detailed which models it’ll take, and shared pricing and specification detail of each, but not a firm public availability date.

The local distributor might have felt compelled to act ahead of the car’s media introduction, planned for mid-October, because Toyota Australia opened up about much the same detail a week ago.

Our neighbour appears to take some of the same variants as us, though it has more overall, with a wider availability of the E-Four all-wheel-drive set-up and also some fully petrol-dedicated variants alongside the mild (so, non-mains replenished) hybrid drivetrain availing here.

The petrols were likely not on the table here because Toyota New Zealand is working hard to achieve a market-leading CO2 average among brands that have electric, electrified and fossil fuel-pure models.

The national range will comprise an entry GX, the mid-spec GXL and the top-rung Limited in front-drive, at $41,990, $44,990 and $48,990 respectively. The Limited with the E-Four AWD, which adds in an electric motor to run the rear wheel set, is $51,990.

THZ has indicated believe all its models will qualify for Clean Car rebates. It estimates the a $3108.97 for the front-drives and $2851.21 off on the AWD.

In all variants, there is a common 135kW/190Nm powertrain involving a 2.0-litre four-cylinder and electric involvement. The cited economy is 4.8L/100km with CO2 emissions of 107g/km in front-drive format, rising to 4.9L/100km and 112g/km for AWD. All formats have the 750kg towing maximum, presumably with a braked trailer.

Adaptive cruise, lane-keep, blind spot monitoring and automatic high beams are standard.

Corolla Cross debuts Toyota’s latest-generation infotainment system, which supports wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto.

GX has an eight-inch touchscreen but those above get a 10.5-inch screen with sat-nav.

The models beyond the base spec also achieve parking sensors at both ends, automatic rear-cross traffic braking and a leather steering wheel. Limited has powered and heated front seats, a nine-speaker JBL audio system, a powered tailgate, leather-accented upholstery and 18-inch wheels, rather than the otherwise standard 17s.

Corolla Cross’s role is to straddle the gap between the Yaris Cross and the big-selling RAV4, and also conceivably offer as a more practical alternate to the C-HR, the car has been in production for two years and was at one point tipped to land here in 2021. But then came coronavirus.