Toyota Urban Cruiser teased: Vitara Brezza based Venue, Sonet rival launch in festive season confirmed

Toyota is entering the sub-compact SUV segment in India with the new Toyota Urban Cruiser. The vehicle will borrow the underpinnings of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza as a part of the deal between Suzuki and Toyota and the launch is confirmed for the festive season this year.

Toyota India has released a teaser image confirming that its upcoming sub-compact SUV will be called the Toyota Urban Cruiser. The Urban Cruiser is scheduled to be launched during the festive season this year. The new model is in sync with the global partnership between Suzuki and Toyota where Toyota will share it’s electrified and connected vehicle technology, while in part, Suzuki’s ventures in India will help Toyota gain market share in the country in the compact segment. The first model launch under this deal from Toyota was the Glanza hatchback which is based on the Maruti Suzuki Baleno. The Toyota Urban Cruiser is the second model under the same partnership which will essentially be a rebadged version of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Toyota has not revealed many details about the Urban Cruiser as yet. However, it will be powered by the same 1.5-litre petrol engine only and will be offered with the 5-speed manual transmission. Whether Toyota will offer the 4-speed automatic variant with the smart-hybrid system like the Vitara Brezza is yet to be confirmed.

The image does well to hide the final look of the upcoming model. The styling philosophy for the Toyota Urban Cruiser will be similar to the difference seen between the Baleno and Glanza. What we can make out from the teaser image is that the Urban Cruiser will be fairly recognisable as a Vitara Brezza under the skin. The front grille of the SUV will use a different design, while no changes to the headlamps and the front bumper is expected. At the rear, the story is expected to be similar with only the “Suzuki” badge and the “Vitara Brezza” badge being replaced with a “Toyota” badge and the new “Urban Cross” badge respectively. The interior of the Urban Cross will also be identical to the Vitara Brezza with the Toyota badge being replaced on the steering wheel and in the graphics of the touchscreen infotainment system’s user interface.

The Urban Cruiser name comes as a derivation of Toyota’s iconic line of SUVs and offroaders like the legendary Land Cruiser and the FJ Cruiser. Toyota will launch the Urban Cruiser this year during the festive season making an entry into the highly competitive subcompact SUV segment to rival not only the Vitara Brezza but also the Hyundai Venue, Ford EcoSport, Mahindra XUV300, Tata Nexon, Honda WR-V and the upcoming Kia Sonet.

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