For the Chinese market, the C-HR is sold by GAC Toyota, while its twin model sold by FAW Toyota is called the IZOA ( Chinese: 奕泽; pinyin: Yìzé ). The IZOA features a front bumper grille with horizontal lines instead of mesh on the C-HR. Both the C-HR and IZOA were revealed at the Auto Guangzhou in November 2017 and went on sale in April 2018.

It went on sale in Europe, Australia, South Africa and North America in early 2017, and in Southeast Asia, China and Taiwan in 2018. The name C-HR can stand for either Compact High Rider, Cross Hatch Run–about or Coupe High Rider. Initial production was in Japan and Turkey.

The 2018 model year was only available in either the XLE or XLE Premium model. For the 2019 model year, the C-HR is available in LE, XLE, XLE Premium or Limited models. The facelifted C-HR was unveiled in Europe, Australia and North America on 1 October 2019.