The
news of a new compact SUV was confirmed by Naveen Soni, Sr. Vice President,
Sales & Service- TKM in a statement. Sources maintained that the new
compact SUV will be a cosmetically modified Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza that
will be rebadged as the Toyota compact SUV.
“We intend to catch up on both retails and
wholesales beginning the festive month of August. Moreover, we are very excited
to announce our foray into the very dynamic compact SUV segment this festive
season. We are aware of the expectations our customers have from the brand and
fulfilling their expectations and catering to their mobility needs has always
been our most important objective”, he stated.
As
customers have more to look forward to, from the brand, TKM has further ramped
up production at its factory in Bidadi, Karnataka, the company statement said.
It may be recalled that as per an agreement
between Toyota and Maruti Suzuki a few years ago, the two companies will
rebadge each other’s products and sell it under their respective brand names
after making some minor modifications. The first to rebadge was Toyota with the
Maruti Suzuki Baleno which it sells under the rebadged name of Glanza. Maruti
Suzuki has yet to sell any Toyota product in its rebadged version.
The
Toyota Glanza sold around 1307 units this July 2020 as compared to 1796 sold
last July. Thanks to the prevailing covid-19 pandemic, in this fiscal (April to
July 2020), TKM has sold a mere 2169 units, compared to 6292 units in the
corresponding period last year. But for the entire fiscal April 2019 to March
end 2020, TKM sold around 25,002 units of the Glanza.
The
Indian compact SUV segment is dominated by the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara
Brezza, the Hyundai Venue, the Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV 300, among others.
During this festive season, a big ticket launch in the segment will be that of
the Kia Sonet, a compact SUV from the Kia Motors India stable.
One
can expect the Toyota compact SUV to be different from the Brezza in terms of
plastic part changes both outside and interiors. Parts like the front and rear
bumpers and grille area, with some new set of claddings, interiors seats
colours, tone, etc could see some changes in the new Toyota compact SUV. Toyota
Kirloskar is unlikely to make major modifications on the compact SUV at such a
time when the Indian passenger vehicle segment is going through some rough
weather.
Thus,
as per the understanding between the two companies, the new Toyota SUV will be
produced at the same Maruti Suzuki plant which produces the Vitara Brezza. At
best, the company will be doing a Glanza with its new compact SUV.