With demand for compact SUV’s on the rise, it seems that Toyota India, a major player in the UV market, couldn’t resist for long. Toyota India has revealed that they have begun their research for a new compact SUV which would be launched in the years ahead.
Toyota India is conducting a research with inputs from car buyers in the compact SUV segment. This research will help them develop their completely new compact SUV. This new Toyota compact SUV will most likely be designed and developed at their R&D center in Japan.
“We do not have anything off-the-shelf globally in the compact SUV segment. We are giving our inputs (to HQ in Japan) and there is a favourable consideration that this is a growing phenomenon in India,“ said N Raja, senior VP and director marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor to Times of India.
The first modern day car in the compact SUV (sub 4m) segment was the Ford EcoSport in India. The launch of EcoSport kicked off a new wave of car buyers who started preferring the compact SUVs over compact sedans or mid-sized hatchbacks. In the same segment as EcoSport, Mahindra launched TUV300, Maruti will launch Vitara Brezza next month, and Hyundai showcased Carlino Concept at the Auto Expo earlier this month, which leaves no doubt that Toyota is not over-ambitious with their plans to launch a compact SUV in India.
Toyota India has a very interesting year ahead. The company has just showcased the new Innova, which will be launched in India soon. To be called Toyota Innova Crysta in India, this new MPV will replace their old work-horse. New gen Innova is not only lighter, safer and more fuel efficient, it is also more powerful and faster thanks to new diesel and petrol engine options. Yes, new Toyota Innova will also be offered with a petrol engine. There are also plans of launching Toyota Innova hybrid, but that will happen later.
