Over time, the sub-compact SUV segment has been getting steadily populated but an entry from Toyota is still missing. This will be named the Urban Cruiser, which will appear during the season of the event.
As part of Toyota’s partnership with Suzuki the Urban Cruiser will be a slightly modified version of the facelifted Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. There was no difference between them apart from the badges in the case of the previous-shared products, the Maruti Baleno and Toyota Glanza. Toyota plans to tweak the front fascia for the Urban Cruiser to make it more distinguishable, rather than just changing the Brezza badges. It is often claimed that Toyota upgrades the interior to offer a brighter dual-tone cabin in lieu of the all-black dashboard in the Vitara Brezza. Different exterior paint choices are also planned.
It will be powered by the same 1.5 liter petrol engine as the Brezza, which makes power of 105PS and torque of 138N. The Urban Cruiser will get the same transmission options: a 5-speed manual and an automatic 4-speed tech with a mild-hybrid. While Maruti doesn’t offer the mild-hybrid tech with manual transmission as of now, the Toyota SUV is expected to arrive.
In terms of variants and price, the Toyota Urban Cruiser is expected to have a higher entry point than the Maruti Vitara Brezza, with the courtesy of a limited lineup of variants. The Toyota SUV, as seen with the Glanza, could undercut the Maruti deal when it comes to similar models with near-identical feature lists. The Urban Cruiser should be offered with a better warranty package than the standard Vitara Brezza which comes with a coverage of 2 years/40,000 km.
Since Maruti released the facelifted Vitara Brezza in February, Toyota’s sub-4 m SUV range would have launched early. But this year’s pandemic lockout postponed the Compact Cruiser until festival season. The delayed launch means that the 2020 Urban Cruiser will be a short-lived offering as Toyota and Suzuki introduce the next-gen Vitara Brezza in 2022 and the new-generation Urban Cruise afterwards.
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