Toyota Urban Cruiser (Re-purposed Vitara Brezza) Launch Confirmed For September 23

After quite a long wait, the launch date of Toyota Urban Cruiser has been finally announced as September 23, 2020. Known as the badge-engineered version of Maruti Vitara Brezza, the Urban Cruiser will come as the brand’s first compact SUV and will rival the likes of Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, and even the car that it’s based on. Along with the Glanza, the Toyota Urban Cruiser is the carmaker’s second product under its joint venture with Maruti Suzuki for India.

What sets it apart from the Glanza-Baleno affair is that Toyota has given it a very distinctive design that gets inspired by the legendary Toyota Fortuner. The Japanese company has shown more efforts with the Urban Cruiser, in the forms of a revised front end with a different grille and bumper. Although there are no sheet metal changes on the SUV, thus the Urban Cruiser does look like a mini-Fortuner on the whole.

Moving to the Toyota Urban Cruiser's interior, things are just more or less unchanged from the Brezza here, except for the new dark brown upholstery and Toyota badging. It will continue to use Maruti Suzuki’s SmartPlay Studio infotainment system and some other comfort goodies.

Like the Toyota Glanza, the base variant of Toyota Urban Cruiser is equivalent to the higher trim of the Vitara Brezza. The Urban Cruiser will come in a choice of three trims – Mid, High and Premium, and even the base-spec Mid trim will be equipped with LED headlamps, keyless entry, automatic climate control and an audio system.

Like the Vitara Brezza, the Toyota Urban Cruiser will be a petrol-only offering. It will be powered by a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol mill that churns out 105 horsepower and 138 Nm. It can be had paired with either a 5-speed MT or a 4-speed torque converter automatic. The automatic variants will also pack a mild-hybrid system that would enhance the fuel efficiency of the model.

We expect that Toyota will be playing a smarter game with pricing and warranty of the new upcoming Urban Cruiser like what it did with the Glanza. The carmaker is likely to offer a 3 year/1 lakh km warranty on the SUV. The prices of Toyota Urban Cruiser are expected to start around Rs 8.5 lakh and top out at Rs.11.5 lakh (ex-showroom).