'SEXY' ALTERNATIVE Why this vehicle should be on your shopping list

YOU need a mid-sized crossover for your family, so you look at the sales charts and see the Corolla Cross killing it. It comes across as an affordable, no-nonsense crossover backed by Toyota's legacy of reliability. And it's not bad-looking, striking the right balance between beefy and svelte, while managing to be almost entirely anonymous and vanilla.

- LANCE WITTEN [e-mail]

THE Beijing X55 Plus gets subtle design upgrades.

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But the anonymous, vanilla lifestyle isn't for you. You don't want a car that says, "I've resigned myself to a life of carting my kids around".

You want a car that inspires you. You want to sit inside it and feel excited. This is why you need the BAIC Beijing X55.

It's similar in proportions to the Corolla Cross - not too big, not too small. But it's sexy. The sexiest among the Chinese mid-sized crossovers, in my opinion.

And the facelifted 2025 X55 Plus model tightened up some of the loose ends the initial 2024 X55 model faltered on - better-designed, better-looking alloy wheels, a redesigned bumpers with a new split diffuser and quad tailpipes finished in gloss black, an all-black interior (although I did like the outgoing red "leather" seats) and roof lining ...