Toyota global SUV likely to be launched in India, company not looking at developing a made-for-India SUV.
Toyota’s utility vehicles Fortuner and Innova despite moving up the price ladder are in good demand in the Indian market. For some perspective, the Innova now costs as much as a Fortuner when the latter was launched for the first time here. Wanting to cash in on the SUV craze in India, the automaker is looking at bringing an affordable global SUV here.
The Japanese carmaker does not have an SUV in the Rs. 10-15 lakh price bracket and is now considering to drive in a global SUV rather than developing a made-for-India SUV. Models available globally are the Toyota Rush and C-HR. The company is still in the process of evaluating which model would be more suitable for India.
The Toyota C-HR is a 5-seater compact SUV underpinned by the TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform and is a rival to the Honda HR-V. The Toyota Rush, on the other hand, is a model developed for emerging markets and is considerably bigger than the C-HR as it seats seven and is a more value-for-money product than the C-HR. It remains to be seen which model will the company choose for India.
Having said that, the company’s recent decision to unveil the low-cost Yaris instead of the Vios could mean that the Toyota Rush is likely to have a higher chance of reaching our market than the C-HR. Also, the TNGA is an expensive platform and could require big investments for localisation. However, previously, company’s top officials have hinted that they are not hesitant to make more investments.
Toyota Global SUV
– Toyota considering either the Rush or C-HR for India
– Company not looking at developing an SUV from scratch
– The global SUV is likely to be priced in the Rs. 10-15 lakhs price bracket
Source – TimesofIndia.com
