The youngest of the four rebadged models in Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s portfolio and also the most affordable Toyota SUV in India contributes 12% to the company’s utility vehicle sales and 10% to its passenger vehicle dispatches in the first 10 months of FY2025.
22 Feb 2025 | 4292 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is firing on all cylinders in the current fiscal year and it’s thanks to strong demand for most of its utility vehicles. The Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor compact SUV, the rebadged version of the Maruti Fronx, has just driven past the 25,000-unit mark in the domestic ...
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Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is firing on all cylinders in the current fiscal year and it’s thanks to strong demand for most of its utility vehicles. The Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor compact SUV, the rebadged version of the Maruti Fronx, has just driven past the 25,000-unit mark in the domestic market. As per the latest wholesales numbers released by SIAM, the Taisor has registered total sales of 25,306 units till end-January 2025 (see monthly sales split below).
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has in the first 10 months of FY2025 sold a total of 254,547 passenger vehicles (up 29% YoY) including 212,363 utility vehicles (up 40% YoY). This essentially means the Taisor’s share of TKM’s UV sales is 12%, underscoring the importance of TKM’s first compact SUV to its current growth.
The Taisor is yet to complete a year in the market but nevertheless in 10 months it has acquired a 2.23% share of the estimated 11,30,237 compact SUVs sold in India between April 2024 and January 2025. This is easily the most hotly contested segment, which accounts for 49% of the 2.29 million UVs sold in the past 10 months. It is the arena where the Taisor does battle with the segment leader Tata Punch, Tata Nexon, donor model Maruti Fronx, Maruti Brezza, Hyundai Venue and Exter, Mahindra XUV 3XO and the Kia Sonet. Two new competitors – the Kia Syros and the Skoda Kylaq – have also just entered the fray.
Strategic move to enter compact SUV market pays off
Clocking over 25,000 sales with the Taisor also means that TKM’s strategic move to re-enter India’s booming compact SUV market 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 as also the smallest Toyota SUV in India.
The Toyota 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 (98 hp/ 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 each of the four models being in hotly contested segments. Between April 2024 and January 2025, combined sales of the four models (Hyryder, Glanza, Taisor and Rumion) at 134,822 units are up 58% YoY (April 2023-Janaury 2025: 85,267 units). This makes for a 53% share of the rebadged models, up from the 43% a year ago.
The Taisor, in the first 10 months of FY2025, is TKM’s third highest-selling rebadged model. The Urban Cruiser Hyryder midsize SUV with 50,788 units, up 36% YoY, is the top-selling rebadged model, followed by the Glanza hatchback (40,742 units, down 6%). While the Taisor has sold 25,306 units the Rumion MPV, launched in August 2023, accounts for 17,986 units.
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