“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta. A famous quote which has always been associated with every generation of Toyota’s mile muncher.
Hey folks, when was the last time you heard your friendly neighbour planning for a trip, digging into the yellow pages or probably calling up all possible tour operators for a big comfortable car? You guessed it right, I am talking about the showcase of reliability, the mile muncher, Toyota’s Innova. The Japanese car maker has been on a quality revolution for quite some time but their mass movers were not exactly what you could term luxurious, they were more of durable and devoted towards practicality and it was so for definite reasons, to please the million practical customers it had.
However things have changed and here is the new equation of luxury + quality + practicality which is born with the second generation model. Welcome the all new 2016 Toyota Innova at the Delhi Auto Expo, this model is based upon a new and lighter platform (Toyota New Global Architecture or TNGA) but is longer, wider and taller compared to the present generation. You will be welcomed with a new front fascia were the biggest changes has happened, the pronounced hexagonal grille adds a massive appeal, you get LED daytime running lights in those sweptback headlamps which neatly sync with the twin chrome slats with the redesigned fog lamps.
The D-pillar is where the changes to the side profile are visible including the pronounced wheel arches. While the rear of the vehicle gets redesigned tail lamps, with an European essence to it, for the missing glitterati. When I was talking about the luxury and the ambience part, I meant the interiors of the 2016 Toyota Innova, it’s an all new layout with lots of premium-ness making it to this cabin, and you are welcomed by a 7.0-inch or 8.0-inch touch-screen infotainment system, faux wood grain on higher variants, while faux brushed aluminium is used in the lower variants and leather upholstery are few features amongst the list.
The features list has only increased with every update and this is no different, along with this you have similar comfort and a very practical oriented seating which the existing customers vouch for. The beast breathes a new unit, the Indonesian version was launched with the 2.0-litre petrol producing 137 BHP and 183 Nm of peak torque, while the diesel unit is powered by a 2.4-litre GD series engine, ditching the earlier 2.5-litre KD series engine producing 147 BHP which is a massive gain of 45 BHP over the existing model and 342 Nm (manual) and 360 Nm (automatic) of peak torque.
The choice of transmission for the automatic is a 6-speed box and a 5-speed manual, but do remember our market traits may promote Toyota to get the diesel option only. It needs to be seen if Toyota gets the model in Indonesian spec, because you get stability control, hill-start assist, ABS, dual front, side and knee airbags among the safety features.
Considering that the previous generation Toyota Innova was priced around Rs. 10-16 lakhs (ex-showroom), expect a premium pricing over it. With the Innova being a favourite among the taxi operators, to keep the bandwagon happy you can expect the present generation Innova to sell simultaneously with a slight price revision.
