BANGALORE, INDIA - Toyota is bringing back the Urban Cruiser nameplate that was once used on a compact crossover of the early 2000s, and which was never sold in South Africa.
The 2020 Urban Cruiser, which Toyota’s Indian division has teased ahead of its imminent reveal, does not appear to be a global model, but there is a fair chance that it will be introduced to South Africa at some point.
The newcomer forms part of a tie-up between Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Maruti Suzuki in India, which will see various Suzuki models being rebadged or reworked as Toyotas, and some of them are even bound for African markets, as was announced back in 2018, although no further details in that regard have been furnished since then.
While the first Toyozuki to emerge from this partnership was little more than a rebadged Suzuki Baleno with a Toyota Glanza badge, the Urban Cruiser will reportedly have a lot more Toyota personality than its hatch counterpart.
According to IndianAutosBlog, the 2020 Urban Cruiser will be based on the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, but in this case the Toyota will have many of its own unique design elements. The Vitara Brezza, incidentally, is a version of the Vitara that was reworked by the Indian division, and also shortened to just below four metres in length to take advantage of that country’s tax structure.
The Urban Cruiser will almost certainly be powered by the same 1.5-litre normally aspirated engine that’s found in the Suzuki Brezza, where it produces 77kW and 138Nm.
“A unique offering from Toyota in India, the new Urban Cruiser exudes an ‘Urban Standout Appeal’ for those who love to ‘Travel in Style’,” Toyota said.
“The company will launch the compact SUV in its India line-up during the festive season to cater to the growing demand for compact SUVs in India.”
But is this one of the vehicles that’s bound for Africa? Time will tell, but we think there’s a good chance that it is.