According to recent media reports, the Maruti-Toyota collaboration will launch its much-anticipated SUV codenamed YFG around the country’s most prominent Diwali festival this year. After being launched, this compact SUV will directly rival the likes of the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. According to the sources, Toyota will manufacture the car and supply it to Maruti for sale in the Indian market.
The upcoming SUV will be a version of Toyota’s codenamed vehicle D22 and will be developed at the company’s second plant in Bidadi, Karnataka. The D22 is expected to arrive on the market shortly after the YFG. These upcoming vehicles will be completely new designs built from the ground up on a new architecture received from Daihatsu New Global Architecture (DNGA). The DNGA platform is intended for budding markets and serves as the foundation for a number of Toyota and Daihatsu models sold in other countries.
It also needs to be mentioned here that these cars will be completely different from each other in terms of interior and exterior, as opposed to the current Maruti Baleno-Toyota Glanza and Maruti Vitara Brezza-Toyota Urban Cruiser, which appear comparable. Both these cars will be loaded with sophisticated features to cope with modern customers’ needs and will most likely be powered by the same petrol engine supported by strong-hybrid technology.
This should make it possible for the models to have class-leading fuel efficiency figures, effectively masking the lack of a diesel variant. Hyundai and Kia, in contrast to Maruti, place a high value on diesel variants. It is also being said that the upcoming cars might run on electric power only for short distances. However, these are only assumptions at the moment, and any official statement from Maruti or Toyota can put a full stop to it and make things clear.
