Toyota-badged Maruti Ertiga and Brezza to Launch by 2021

Last year, Toyota had partnered with Maruti Suzuki to bring its first-ever premium hatchback to India, the Toyota Glanza. Followers of IndianAuto would already know that the Glanza is a rebadged version of the Maruti Baleno. Now, it seems there are more cross-badged products cooking in Toyota’s kitchen, this time in the form of the Ertiga and the Brezza.

Toyotas biggest success currently is the Innova Crysta MPV. The newly launched Vellfire is supposed to be a niche product, with limited units to be sold here. To bolster its sales volume, the company would want a tried and tested product, like Maruti Ertiga, to compliment its MPV sales in India. Other than that, SUVs are extremely popular in India ,and the sub-4-metre SUV segment is perhaps the most hotly contested segment in the country right now. It would be a logical step for Toyota to want a piece of that pie as well. With the discontinuation of the Etios and Liva, the Japanese car giant doesn’t have a lot of offerings in the mass market.

“We believe that important alliances such as ours [Toyota and Maruti Suzuki], will pave the way for introduction of competitive and cutting-edge products and technologies in India, giving customers varied choices of products to meet their ever-growing expectations. The partnership complements each other’s thrusts on new technologies from the futuristic world of alternative and connected technologies that could drive the next generation of passenger vehicles,”

Naveen Soni, Senior Vice President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor

Also Read: Every New Car Sold in 2040 Could be a Toyota!

Last year, the Japanese carmaker had also debuted the Toyota Raize internationally. Based on the Daihatsu Rocky, this subcompact SUV was previously expected to make its way to the Indian shores, but that doesn’t seem to be case anymore. A rebadged version of Maruti Brezza with some aesthetic changes would be easier and more cost-effective to produce for the Indian market.

Toyota's new sub-4-metre SUV would be based on Maruti Brezza

Both the Toyota sub-4-metre SUV and entry-level MPV are expected to be powered by the BS6-compliant 1.5-litre, naturally aspirated, inline-4 engine with optional mild-hybrid assistance that Maruti offers in its cars. It will be paired to a 5-speed manual transmission. There might also be another engine option on offer, to give these cara an edge over their equivalent Maruti twins, perhaps a new small capacity diesel engine. Although there would be cost concerns regarding the latter, it just might give Toyota the push it needs in India.

Source- auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com