Toyota official: RAV4 SUV more suitable for India than new Corolla!

India is one of the fastest growing market for automobile manufacturers and more and more car and  bike manufacturers are entering the market with new and different products. One of the segment that is selling like hot cakes in the country is the SUV. The cars like Maruti Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon dominate the sub-4 meter segment whereas the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos and MG Hector dominate the mid-size SUV segment. We love our SUVs and almost every manufacturer in the country has one model in this segment. Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has also realised the same thing and might be launching a brand new SUV in our market – the RAV4.


Over the years with more and more manufacturers entering the SUV game, the popularity for sedans in the segment have gone down. This trend has been noticed by Toyota and itis because of this trend that the manufacturer has discontinued the Corolla Altis from their line up. Toyota is now considering to launch a mid-size SUV in India to fill the gap which is likely to be the Toyota RAV4 SUV.

Speaking to Financial Express, Naveen Soni, Senior VP – Sales & Service, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “We have been watching the market response and we witness that customer preference is evolving in the C segment from sedan to SUV“.

Toyota RAV4 is an SUV that Toyota already sells in the international market. It is a good looking SUV with ample amount of road presence. Dimension-wise it is more or less the size of the Tata Harrier. The RAV4 is currently in its fifth generation.


The RAV4 is internationally available with a petrol engine only. It is available with a 2.5 litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine. A Hybrid version of the same is also available Internationally. It is not known if we would be getting the same engines here also. If Toyota brings the RAV4 to India, pricing is going to be a factor that they will have to keep in mind.

Currently Fortuner is the only SUV that Toyota sells in India and is quite popular in its segment. Fortuner will soon receive a facelift later this year. Toyota might also launch an SUV that sits below the RAV4 SUV. The SUV that’ll sit beneath the RAV4 will be the rebadged version of the Maruti Brezza. Toyota is expected to give the compact SUV a restyling and a new name: Urban Cruiser. It’ll be sold as a petrol mild hybrid sub-4 meter SUV, sharing the engine and gearbox with the Brezza.