New Toyota compact SUV in the works, to go against Jeep Compass - Report

05/05/2020 - 17:56 | ,   | Sagar Parikh

The Toyota RAV4 has become significantly bigger over the years. So, a new Toyota compact SUV is in the works now, a model that will be positioned below it and go straight against the Jeep Compass.

Toyota Tj Cruiser Production Compact Suv
The new Toyota compact SUV will be the production version of the Toyota Tj Cruiser from the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show.

The Toyota RAV4 has grown so much over the generations now, that it sits on the same platform as the Toyota Camry mid-size sedan - NGA-K (a version of the TNGA platform). A new report from Magazine X (May 2020 issue) says that Toyota is working on a new compact SUV codenamed “地方男子”, which roughly translates to “local boy”.

The new Toyota compact SUV will be the production version of the Toyota Tj Cruiser from the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show. So, expect a boxy design with a lot of straight lines and a lot of other conventional SUV characteristics.

Toyota Tj Cruiser concept at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show left front three quarters
The new Toyota compact SUV, unlike the Toyota Tj Cruiser concept, won’t feature sliding doors.

Make no mistake, though, Toyota isn’t trying to go old-school and launch something like a Ford Bronco. If anything, the company has strongly indicated with the Tj Cruiser that it’s trying to do something different with this new SUV, but unlike in the case of the C-HR SUV, something more practical and versatile than competitors. The company had presented the Tj Cruiser as a "crossover genre" vehicle.

The new Toyota compact SUV, unlike the aforementioned concept, won’t feature sliding doors. It will sit on the same platform as the Toyota Prius, Toyota C-HR and Toyota Corolla - GA-C (a smaller version of the TNGA platform). It will measure 4,410 mm in length 1,815 mm in width and 1,600 mm in height. Under the hood, there’ll be a 2.0-litre in-line four-cylinder petrol engine assisted by an electric motor. There should be a petrol variant also on offer.

Also Read: First Toyota Yaris Cross real-life images surface online

The new Toyota compact SUV is expected to be unveiled in 2022. It’ll probably be a more suitable model for India than the Toyota RAV4, being smaller and, more importantly, cheaper. We doubt it’d be manufactured in India, though.

Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com for more Toyota updates and other four-wheeler news.

[Source: mag-x.com via carsensor.net]

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