Toyota Raize – What is it? Is it COMING or NOT?

The Toyota Raize was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show previews the design ideology of the brand. Now we know that the compact SUV by Toyota that we Indians will get in 2022 is going to be based on the Maruti Vitara Brezza. So what is the Raize and why it important? The Toyota Raize is an SUV based on the Daihatsu Rocky and is a compact SUV for Japan. This will not be the car that will come to India. But we will see the platform of the Raize come to India – DNGA ( Daihatsu New Global Architecture) will come to India in the future because Toyota and Suzuki plan to use this platform and use it to create multiple cars for our market with one of them being a Creta competition SUV.

So what should we expect?

If the Toyota Raize is not going to come in the sub-four meter form it will be used as the guiding light and base for the mid-size SUV planned with Suzuki. And yes this will be a platform sharing venture with very different looking bodies and interiors. This will not be Baleno wearing Toyota badging. We might see Toyota even use the name Raize here for it’s Creta competition SUV as it has created quite a buzz. While Maruti is eying the big Vitara in their portfolio, a mid-size SUV courtesy of Toyota will be a good addition to their SUV line-up too. Right now in its sub-four meter – 3995mm iteration, the car features a large class-leading 369-litre boot plus get a lot of standard features and the option of four-wheel drive. The overall design is inspired by the internationally sold RAV4, which is one good looking SUV.

On the inside, there is going to be a host of new features that will include a nine-inch infotainment system with SmartDeviceLink and Apple CarPlay, cruise control, smart parking assist, a sunroof, powered seats, 17-inch wheels and a seven-inch LED instrument cluster. We can expect more features like a heads-up display and more storage to come in as the car becomes a big mid-size SUV.

What about power?

Right now, the Toyota Raize currently gets its power from a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol unit delivering 96hp of power and 140Nm of torque. This comes paired to a D-CVT transmission. The Raize is offered with a two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive option with claimed efficiency figures of 18.6kmpl and 17.4kmpl respectively. If it does make it to India, the compact SUV could be powered by Maruti Suzuki’s 1.5-litre engines because of the JV deal and the feasibility it will provide. If will be interesting to see another four-wheel-drive option come to the mid-size SUV segment after the Renault Duster.

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Toyota Raize Pricing and Launch expectations?

The Toyota Raize if launched in India (not likely) is going to compete with the Hyundai Venue, Ford EcoSport and the Tata Nexon which are the traditional compact SUVs of our country and the price should be around Rs 8 lakhs to Rs 11 lakhs. The DNGA platform will be used more likely by Toyota for future applications.