The Urban Cruiser will be Toyota’s entry into the growing Compact SUV market. Maruti Suzuki will be building the bold new Urban Cruiser on behalf of Toyota and it will be based on the Maruti Vitara Brezza SUV. This cooperation was previously seen with the Glanza hatchback which is based on the Baleno. The Urban Cruiser is set to launch as early as possible next month.
Though it is based off the Vitara Brezza, the Cruiser will have some of Toyota’s signature exterior styling aspects and interior upholstery. Hopefully, it won’t be a complete rip-off, like the one we saw in Toyota’s Glanza. Glanza was basically a Maruti Baleno with just the logo badges changed.
This newcomer will most likely feature a 1.5-litre petrol engine capable of a mediocre 103 hp and 138 Nm of torque as it is borrowed from the Brezza. This engine will be paired up with either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission. Word is out that the Urban Cruiser will also host a Smart Hybrid system on its automatic variants. Which would be a smart move as most new launches do offer hybrid variants owing to rising customer demands.
The Urban Cruiser will be entering an aggresive market environment with the highly successful Hyundai Venue and Tata Nexon. Not to mention upcoming launches with great potential like Nissan’s Magnite, the Kia Sonet and the Renault Kiger.
