The country’s largest automaker by volume, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, has announced that it will launch its most expensive offering, the Toyota Innova Hycross-based premium MPV, in June-July of this year. The announcement was made by RC Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, who also stated that while this model may not bring volume to the brand, it will definitely be an important product for the brand.
RC Bhargava, while speaking to ET Auto, stated, “We will be sourcing a vehicle from Toyota, which is a 3-row strong hybrid and top-of-the-line vehicle in terms of price. The volumes will not be very high, but it will be a path breaker.” Apart from this, the Maruti Suzuki chairman did not provide any further information, but we can assume that it will be another badge-engineered model between the two Indo-Japanese automakers.
Both Maruti Suzuki India Limited and Toyota Kirloskar Motor have been in a strategic partnership since 2017. The aim of this partnership is to share technology and resources to improve their product offerings and market reach. Under this partnership, Toyota has provided Maruti Suzuki with technical support for developing hybrid and electric vehicles. In return, Maruti Suzuki has provided Toyota with access to its sales and distribution network in India.
As for the details about this particular premium MPV from Maruti Suzuki, it is believed that most likely, this model will feature a slightly different exterior design than the outgoing Innova Hycross. Apart from the exterior, there should not be a whole lot of differences on the inside. This forthcoming model will most certainly retain the same powertrain options as the Innova Hycross.
Toyota offers the Innova Hycross as a petrol-only model and is offered with two powertrain options – a 2.0-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine and a 2.0-litre petrol-hybrid engine. While the naturally-aspirated petrol engine produces 173 bhp of power and 209 Nm of torque, the 2.0-litre petrol-hybrid powertrain claims a combined maximum power output of 184 bhp and a stellar fuel efficiency of 23.24 kmpl.
In other Maruti Suzuki news, RC Bhargava touched on the subject of increasing the brand’s total production volume during the interview. Bhargava mentioned that MSIL is looking to add another plant at Kharkhoda in Sonipat, Haryana, and that it is aiming to add around ten lakh more to its total production volume with this plant.
He stated, “By 2030, our export volumes could reach as much as three-quarters of a million cars, which is equal to the present capacity of the entire Suzuki Gujarat plant. So looking at the market size for the next 8 years, even if we utilize the 1 million potential of the Kharkhoda plant, we will still need more vehicles to meet the domestic and export demand.” He further added, “The new plant will be expanded in a phased manner depending on the market demand. The Kharkhoda plant is a work in progress, so we will try to expedite it to the maximum extent possible, but simultaneously work will be carried out on the other site as well.”
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Keyword: Maruti Suzuki's Toyota Innova Hycross based MPV to launch in July 2023: Will be most expensive Maruti car