Toyota has finally dropped the first teaser of the Urban Cruiser which will be launched in India in September. It’s a rebadged Vitara Brezza but with styling changes and perhaps a lower ownership costs too.
And finally, Toyota drops the first teaser of the Urban Cruiser, thus confirming the all-new sub-compact SUV for the Indian market. The Toyota Urban Cruiser is essentially a re-badged version of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza but the case wouldn’t be quite like the Baleno and the Glanza. The Urban Cruiser will have its own unique identity and it will join the ever growing sub-compact SUV space. With more new entrants like the Kia Sonet, the Nissan Magnite and Renault Kiger, the Toyota Urban Cruiser will have a lot to compete against.
Toyota will launch the Urban Cruiser in the market sometime next month. The inception of this name, we believe, lies in the Toyota Land Cruiser heritage. The Urban Cruiser will have a unique front styling with new bumpers, headlights and grille. Both the SUVs will be sharing the same sheet metal and the changes will only be on the ‘soft’ plastic parts. It will still set it apart from the Vitara Brezza and will also bring it more in line with the newer, bigger Toyota SUVs sold abroad.
On the inside, the Urban Cruiser is expected to use a different and lighter color for its upholstery and trim as opposed to the grey and black theme of the Brezza. That however is expected to be the only change and all other features will be identical on both the SUVs. The Urban Cruiser will be manufactured by Maruti Suzuki for Toyota, a similar arrangement which is already meted out to the Glanza hatchback, which is based on the Baleno.
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Under the hood, the Urban Cruiser will be powered by the same engine as the Brezza. It will thus have the 1.5 Litre four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 104 PS and 138 Nm of peak torque. Gearbox options will include the same 5-speed MT and 4-speed AT. Also, Toyota is likely to offer the mild-hybrid system with both the transmission options on the Urban Cruiser. In case of Brezza, only the AT variants get the SHVS technology, therefore, resulting in a higher fuel efficiency.
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Toyota is expected to have fewer variants for the Urban Cruiser than Maruti Suzuki has for the Vitara Brezza. Just like the Glanza, the Urban Cruiser is also expected to have a lower ownership cost than the Vitara Brezza. Toyota is expected to offer a 3year/1,00,000km warranty, as opposed to the 2 year/40,000km on the Vitara Brezza. Having said that, the Vitara Brezza is not its only competitor, but it will also have competition from the Hyundai Venue, the Tata Nexon, the Mahindra XUV300, and the Ford Ecosport. Also upcoming are the Kia Sonet, the Nissan Magnite and the Renault Kiger. Perhaps no other car segment in India is as crowded as this currently.
