Toyota Africa has finally unveiled its midsize sedan Belta, which is basically the rebadged version of the India-spec Maruti Ciaz. The brand has listed the car on its official website while the production of the left-hand-drive variant has already commenced. The rebadged version of Ciaz would be marketed worldwide, starting from the African countries, as per the joint venture between Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Corporation.
Recently, a bunch of Toyota Belta cars was spotted at a port, ready to be shipped. As far as the India launch is concerned, the Belta is expected to be launched in the country shortly to replace the recently discontinued Yaris.
While talking about the design differences from the Ciaz, except for the Toyota emblem and the new name badge, the sedan looks the same. Toyota has made no design or aesthetic changes to the vehicle; in fact, it has the same grille, alloy wheels, and other external style features as the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz.
The brand has already introduced the Toyota badged Baleno, which was renamed Glanza, and the Vitara Brezza, which was renamed Urban Cruiser as part of its collaboration with Suzuki Motor Corporation. And the Suzuki Ciaz-based Belta is the next car in line for the Indian market.
As the Toyota Belta is a rebadged Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, it also receives the same 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine with Suzuki’s mild-hybrid technology. The engine is good enough to generate 103 bhp of maximum power and 138 Nm of peak torque. It is coupled with a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission.
When it comes to the features, the features list is also comparable to that of the current Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, which includes LED projector headlights, LED DRLs, LED taillights, and 16-inch alloy wheels. Also, inside the car, it gets a touchscreen entertainment system, a multi-functional steering wheel, auto climate control, cruise control, and more.
