Toyota Kirloskar Motors and Maruti Suzuki are partnering up in order to develop a new mid-size SUV segment that is presently dominated by Hyundai’s Creta and the Kia Seltos. The automobile makers are jointly developing an SUV that will be manufactured at Toyota’s Bidadi facility in Karnataka and will be marketed and retailed via their independent dealerships throughout the country.
Trial production of the new Toyota-Maruti SUV has already begun:
The latest reports indicate that the Toyota-Suzuki’s Creta rival SUV has already entered into the trial production phase at the plant, we can expect the car to officially debut in June or July while the launch could occur during the peak festive season of 2022.
The new SUV will support the made-in-India version of Toyota’s TNGAB platform, the majority of the components will be supplied through Maruti Suzuki’s existing vendors. Some crucial systems will be provided by Toyota regulators, while there is no official word on the upcoming rival of Creta, it is likely to arrive with two petrol engines and a hybrid drive unit.
One of the gasoline units will have mild hybrid technology and the other will arrive with a stronger hybrid system. The other components will be manufactured locally which helps the carmakers secure competitive pricing.
While sharing the platform, components, and other features, the brand new SUV from these companies will look completely different. While the version of Toyos ma share design elements along with the Corolla Cross and RAV4, the Maruti SUV will be similar to the Suzuki A-Cross. Here are some other likely features of the new car:
Key features of the new Toyota-Maruti SUV:
- Honeycomb grille
- Dual-LED DRL’s
- Split headlamp setup
- Pronounced wheel arches
- Toyota’s DNGA platform
- High-ground clearance
- Touchscreen Infotainment
- Wireless Apple CarPlay with Android Auto
- Digital Instrument Console
- Wireless smartphone charging
- Sunroof
- HUD or Head-Up Display
- Elegant Sunroof
- Multi-functional steering wheel
- Car Technology Connected
- 360-degree camera
- Advanced Driver Assistance System
- Automatic AC unit
- Electrically adjustable driver’s seat along with ORVM’s
- Turbo Petrol Engine
- Hybrid Powertrain
- Manual and Automatic gearbox options as always
With top-notch features such as this, Toyota and Maruti are really trying to hit the popularity of Creta and the KIA Seltos in India. The latest offering from them is surely something exciting and worth waiting for especially considering that all SUVs in this category look more or less similar in nature.
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