Toyota is known to build reliable Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV). But the company does not have an offering in the compact SUV segment as yet in India. However, all that is going to change very soon since Toyota has plans of coming forth with a compact SUV for India. This vehicle will be based on the Etios platform which is known as the Entry Family Car (EFC) platform. The compact SUV segment is growing at a rapid pace and Toyota realises that if it wants to post decent growth and high sales, it has to introduce new products.
The new SUV based on the Etios will also carry over the existing engine options that will be tuned for better performance. The 1.5-litre petrol engine on the Etios will be implemented on this new SUV and the 1.4-litre D-4D diesel engine will also be offered additionally. Apart from the engines, the new SUV will share many other parts with the Etios as a measure to save costs. The SUV will come with front-wheel drive setup and 5-speed manual transmission.
The new Toyota compact SUV will directly take on the already established Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport. The company will also display the new Corolla at the upcoming Auto Expo, launching it by mid-2014. Additionally, the next generation Toyota Innova based on the IMV platform will be introduced in 2015 in India. Toyota hopes to catch up with the competition with the launch of these new vehicles and gain a bigger market share in the sub-continent. In this case, the company also wants to leverage the Etios platform across South-East Asia.
