The Toyota Taisor compact SUV, launched in April, has already become a key contributor to Toyota Kirloskar Motor which is well set at halfway stage in FY2025 to record 300,000-unit sales for the first time in a fiscal. The youngest of the four rebadged models in TKM’s portfolio, the Urban Cruiser Taisor is also the most affordable Toyota SUV in India.
23 Oct 2024 | 9847 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
The Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor compact SUV, launched on April 3, 2024 but whose deliveries began in May, has clocked five-month wholesales of 13,496 units till end-September 2024, as per SIAM data for passenger and utility vehicles. This makes for average monthly sales of 2,699 units.
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The Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor compact SUV, launched on April 3, 2024 but whose deliveries began in May, has clocked five-month wholesales of 13,496 units till end-September 2024, as per SIAM data for passenger and utility vehicles. This makes for average monthly sales of 2,699 units.
This effectively means Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM)’s strategic move to re-enter India’s booming compact SUV market with the Taisor in less than a year after it discontinued the Toyota Urban Cruiser (the rebadged Maruti Brezza) is paying off. With an aggressive starting pricing of Rs 773,500 (ex-showroom) for the base E MT variant, the Taisor is the most affordable Toyota SUV in India and is also the smallest Toyota SUV in India.
Of TKM’s total utility vehicle sales of 123,683 units in the first six months of FY2025 (up 41% YoY, April-September 2023: 87,455 units), the Taisor’s share is 11% with 13,496 units.
The Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor is powered by the same 1.2-litre, four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol and 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo-petrol engines. The former develops 90hp and 113 Nm of torque, and can be had with either a 5-speed manual transmission or an AMT. The turbo-petrol engine (100hp/148 Nm) is available with a 5-speed manual and a 6-speed torque converter automatic. There is also a CNG option with claimed fuel efficiency of 28.5 km/kg.
TKM’s fourth rebadged model is No. 3 in sales
The Fronx-based Toyota Taisor is the fourth of the Maruti models rebadged for Toyota Kirloskar Motor and the youngest of Toyota’s four badge-engineered (rebadged) models in India after the Glanza hatchback (based on the Maruti Baleno), Urban Cruiser Hyryder midsize SUV (based on the Maruti Grand Vitara), and the Rumion MPV (based on the Maruti Ertiga).
The Taisor, which shares almost all its body panels with the Maruti Fronx, features some cosmetic changes over its donor car – a redesigned front grille and restyled front bumpers. Other highlights include LED DRLs with a new linear design, tweaked tail-lights and new styling for the 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels.
Inside, the Taisor sports dual-tone brown-and-black upholstery, 9-inch touchscreen infotainment with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, 360-deg camera, a heads-up display, wireless charger, smartwatch connectivity and so on. On the safety front, this Toyota compact SUV gets six airbags, electronic stability program (ESP), hill-hold assist, ABS with EBD and ISOFIX child seat anchorages.
TKM is benefiting from the model rebadging strategy considerably¸ despite all four models being part of hotly contested segments. Between April and September 2024, combined sales of the four models (Hyryder, Glanza, Taisor and Rumion) at 80,282 units are up 66% YoY (April-September 2023: 48,272 units). This makes for a 53% share of the rebadged models, up from the 41% a year ago.
The Taisor, in the first six months of FY2025, is already the third highest-selling rebadged model for Toyota Kirloskar Motor. SIAM’s wholesales data for April-September 2024 reveals that the Urban Cruiser Hyryder midsize SUV with 30,771 units, up 55% YoY, is the top-selling rebadged model, followed by the Glanza hatchback with 25,721 units, down 4% YoY.
The Urban Cruiser Taisor, in a scant five months (since deliveries began in May), has taken third position with 13,496 units while the Rumion MPV, launched in August 2023, accounts for 10,295 units.
Toyota India headed for record 300,000 sales in FY2025
At present, TKM is firing on all cylinders. In FY2024, TKM registered record wholesales of 245,676 passenger vehicles. FY2025 bids fair to be yet another fiscal of strong sales for the Japanese car and SUV manufacturer.
With six months still to go in FY2025 and 150,255 units (up 30% YoY) already sold in the first five months of the current fiscal, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has already achieved 61% of its FY2024 total till end-September. With the festive season having begun, and sustained strong demand for most of its products, it could be surmised that the company could achieve the 300,000 units mark for the first time in FY2025.
At 123,683 SUVs and MPVs sold (up 41% YoY), the UV share of TKM’s April-September 2024 sales currently stands at 82% – expect the Taisor to continue to add a fresh dose of momentum in the coming months.
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