Several reports claim that Toyota is eyeing for a share in the mid-size SUV space in India, for a likely competitor to the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos. Find out here what could be on the cards.
The SUV trend has become so popular in India that it even gave birth to a whole new segment in the country – the sub-compact SUV. And now, sub-compact SUVs and mid-size SUVs have completely overshadowed all other segments in the country, even hatchbacks, which was once a very popular segment among Indian car buyers. If you know your cars well, you’d notice that Toyota has largely been absent from both these SUV segments, until now. Toyota is one of the biggest mass manufacturers in the Indian market and their absence from this segment was rather surprising.
Well, as it turns out, the carmaker has finally realized the potential of the segment and will soon have their own offering in both the sub-compact and mid-size SUV space. The first of these two will be the new Toyota Urban Cruiser which will be their first product in the sub-compact SUV space. Now the Urban Cruiser is essentially a rebadged Vitara Brezza as part of the partnership between Toyota and Maruti Suzuki. Toyota however says that the Urban Cruiser will have its own unique identity and it will not be a case of the Baleno and Glanza anymore.
But while the Urban Cruiser is already a confirmed product, there are new reports which claim that Toyota is also eyeing for a share in the mid-size SUV space, a competitor for the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos. There are not many specific details about what exactly Toyota could be cooking up but there are plenty of speculations about what the new vehicle could be. Some say that Toyota could either be bringing the C-HR or the RAV4 from their international lineup via the CBU route. But there’s not a huge possibility for that.
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Coming the CBU route, prices for such vehicles tend to shoot up drastically and they become niche products with limited sales. The C-HR was recently launched in China at an equivalent price of Rs. 24.22 lakh. That makes a direct rival for the likes of the VW T-Roc or the Skoda Karoq. Toyota however cannot afford to play the same game in this price sensitive segment. Some other speculations say that the recently unveiled Yaris Cross could likely be Toyota’s answer for the mid-size SUV segment.
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The Yaris Cross is powered by a 1.5L, natirally aspirated, 3-cylinder petrol engine which puts out 120PS and 145 Nm of torque. The engine even comes mated to an electric motor/battery which takes the total output to 171PS and 261Nm of torque. While that will be a great fit in the segment, some are even speculating the Corolla Cross to make it to India. It was recently spied testing in Thailand. Considering that India and Thailand have pretty identical cars, it could be a possibility for India as well. It will however be a little bigger than the Yaris Cross and will then directly rival the likes of the Harrier and the Hector. Whatever the case, we are very excited to see what Toyota actually comes up with to mark their presence in the mid-size SUV segment.
