Since its global debut in July last year, the Toyota Corolla Cross has quickly raced to the top of Thailand’s sales charts for compact SUVs, overtaking the once-reigning but now ageing Honda HR-V. In just slightly over a year, Toyota Motor Thailand has pushed out over 22,500 units of the Corolla Cross on Thai roads.

What is more surprising however is that 85 percent of Corolla Cross’ sales are contributed by hybrid variants.

The Thailand market Corolla Cross is available in 4 variants, only one of it, the 1.8 Sport, uses a conventional naturally aspirated 1.8-litre 2ZR-FBE engine. The remaining three variants are powered by the 1.8-litre Atkinson cycle 2ZR-FXE hybrid, the same engine that powers the Prius, Corolla Altis Hybrid, and C-HR Hybrid.

Mr. Surasak Suthongwan, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Thailand told the Thai media yesterday that the very positive response to the Corolla Cross Hybrid reinforces Toyota’s confidence in its hybrid engines.

“Moreover, the Corolla Cross is a car that stands out even more because it’s backed by Toyota's identity, which promises value for money, reliability, and is a car made by Thai people, exported around the world, thus building even greater confidence in hybrid electric vehicles,” he added.

Thai users’ preference for hybrids is in sharp contrast with Malaysia. Honda Malaysia for example, struggles to find enough buyers for its Honda HR-V Hybrid and Honda City RS e:HEV, even though nothing else on the market can match Honda's one-motor i-DCD (HR-V Hybrid) and the newer 2-motor i-MMD’s (City RS) combination of fuel economy and performance.

Why Thai users prefer hybrid cars, but not Malaysians?

The obvious answer to that is petrol prices in Malaysia are too cheap, thus removing any incentive for consumers to invest more upfront in a more expensive hybrid model.

We are a nation who will complain that things are expensive, but will at the same time leave a car's engine at idle to keep the air-conditioning running, instead of getting down. Or will waste time driving around the same circle to look for a parking when there are plenty of empty spots further away.

In Thailand, drivers pay around RM 3.70 per litre for the lowest grade RON 91 petrol. In Malaysia, our subsidized RON 95 currently costs just RM 2.05 per litre. At such low prices, why would anyone pay more for a hybrid to save fuel?

Thailand also offers lower excise tax for hybrid vehicles with engine capacity below 3.0-litre, at around 4 to 13 percent, depending on their CO2 emission. Regular passenger cars are taxed at around 25 to 35 percent, depending on their CO2 emission. All passenger cars with engine capacities above 3.0-litre, regardless of whether it is a hybrid or not, are taxed 50 percent.

Also, unlike Thailand where Toyota hybrids dominate, the image of hybrids in Malaysia are now shaped by BMW and Mercedes-Benz (the Prius and Camry Hybrid were discontinued after just one generation here), with their wide range of plug-in hybrid models.

These German hybrids are not the most reliable of the lot and social media posts on their ridiculously high battery replacement cost are also scaring off potential buyers.

In truth, the replacement cost for a Japanese non-plug-in model’s hybrid battery costs only as much as a laptop, and that is assuming that the 8-year warranty has already run out. By then, the car is likely to have clocked over 160,000 km, and spending RM 5k - RM7k after nearly 10 years of service is reasonably acceptable.

Also read: Used hybrids are really cheap, so should you buy a used Toyota Prius, Camry Hybrid or Honda Insight?

Even in Germany, taxi drivers there trust a Toyota hybrid more than a BMW or a Mercedes plug-in hybrid. Post Dieselgate, more and more diesel taxis in Germany are being replaced by Toyota hybrids.

The fact that Thai drivers are used to seeing Prius (third generation) taxis and Camry Hybrid airport limousines (and likely to have travelled in one too) clocking very high mileage daily, probably serve as an additional reassuring factor too.

Closer to home, UMW Toyota Motor is expected to launch a locally-assembled Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid soon. The company has since announced a RM 270 million investment into the Bukit Raja plant to assemble hybrid models.

The current Corolla Cross sold are imported from Thailand. Prices range from RM 124,000 for the 1.8G and RM 129,266 for the 1.8V.