Report - Toyota highly interested in developing a Ford EcoSport rival

20/02/2014 - 14:23 | ,   | Shrawan Raja

An urban SUV positioned below the Toyota RAV4 to fight the Nissan Juke, Honda Vezel and Ford EcoSport is apparently high on the company's to-do list according to a new report published on CarAdvice.com.au.

Toyota Australia's product planner Mark Dobson admits to CarAdvice that the booming mini SUV segment cannot be ignored by the company for long.

Daihatsu Terios press image
The Daihatsu Terios is rebadged in some Asian countries as the Toyota Rush. However this vehicle is 8 years old and needs a successor to compete with the EcoSport, Duster or the Juke.

Toyota's market studies show that urban buyers want low fuel bills, high safety, compact footprint and a lifestyle status. A sub-RAV4 product could fit the criteria. The RAV4 is the smallest Toyota SUV sold worldwide.

Toyota's low-cost brand Daihatsu sells the 'Terios' mini SUV in a few emerging Asian markets (and Toyota rebadges it as the 'Rush') but the car is 8 years old and cannot hold a candle to the younger generation SUV crowd. Interestingly the first generation Terios is sold in India by Premier Automotive, badged as the 'Rio' strapped with a Fiat diesel engine.

From the dimensional perspective, Dobson says the Rush is the right vehicle. Going by current product lifecycles, the Rush needs succession, and CarAdvice predicts the change in Australia within 12 months.

[Source - CarAdvice.com.au]

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