Toyota is looking to produce a new SUV for the Indian that’ll compete with the likes of Mahindra XUV700, Tata Safari, etc. This new SUV will be produced in a new plant in Karnataka to increase the annual production capacity by up to 30%.
Toyota is reportedly considering to build a third car plant in India aiming to boost its annual production capacity to 5 Lakh Units, a 30% increase from the current 4 lakh units. The new plant is expected to have an annual production capacity of 80,000 to 1.2 Lakh Units with potential for scaling up to approximately 2 Lakh units. Notably, the location of third plant is reportedly the same as the existing plants in Bidadi, Karnataka.
This new plant will become the primary production hub for an upcoming three-row SUV that is codenamed as “340D.” The target annual production of the SUV is expected to be 60,000, and it’s highly possible the SUV won’t launch until 2026. Toyota is aiming to expand its SUV line-up in India with a new model that will compete with the likes of Hyundai Alcazar, and Tata Safari.
This will also fill the gap between the Hyryder and Innova Hycross in their line-up. The upcoming SUV is based on the Corolla Cross Platform, and will utilize the TNGA-C Platform that is shared with the Innova HyCross. Globally, the Corolla Cross has a wheelbase of 2640 MM while we expect the Indian-Specific SUV to be extended by 160 MM to accommodate a third row of seats. This also means the SUV will sport longer rear doors for easy access to third row, and possibly redesigned C and D-Pillars.
At the moment, nothing is known about the engine options, but we expect one powertrain to be the 1.5 L Petrol Hybrid Engine generating 184 BHP and 188 NM of torque paired to an eCVT Gearbox. The other engine could be the 2.0 L Petrol Engine producing 173 BHP and 209 NM of torque mated to 6 Speed Manual, and 7 Speed CVT Gearbox.
Additionally, its worth mentioning the codenamed “340D” SUV will not be related to the Maruti Suzuki’s Grand Vitara three-row SUV which is based on the Maruti platform and produced at theirs Kharkhoda, Haryana Plant.