Earlier in April there were reports flowing around that the Japanese maker Toyota is considering launching the Rush SUV and Avanza MPV in the Indian market. Now there are reports that the Japanese automaker is indeed brining the two models to the Indian market and they will be launched in the country in 2021. The SUV is already sold in many global markets and is often looked upon as the smaller version of Toyota Fortuner. The maker had presented the all-new Rush SUV in 2017 and the full model change brought a lot of new features as well as styling updates to the car.
Toyota Rush is nothing more than the badge-engineered version of Daihatsu Terios. What the Rush shares with other Toyota cars is the underpinnings as the SUV is made on the TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform that is found on the new Camry as well. If launched, the Toyota Rush will be placed in the compact SUV segment and will lock horns with established cars such as the Hyundai Creta and Mahindra XUV500 as well as new players like the Nissan Kicks and Tata Harrier in the Indian market. There are hopes that the Rush will be brought here in a 7-seater form and the upcoming SUV will also rival upcoming Kia Seltos in India.
As mentioned, Toyota Rush is already on sale in the global markets and the model there is 4.4 m long, 1.6 m wide, and 1.7 m high with a wheelbase of 2.6 m and ground clearance of 220 mm. These figures are already very good for the Indian market as one of the leaders of the segment, Mahindra XUV500 has a lower ground clearance. Although XUV500 is quite large when compared to the upcoming Rush. The Hyundai Creta that is being currently sold in India is smaller than the Rush, but by the time Toyota Rush will hit Indian markets, Hyundai Creta would have received a generation update and as the new model has already been displayed, we now know that the new Creta will be larger than before.
Talking about the mechanical aspects of the Toyota Rush, the SUV sold in the global markets comes with a 1.5L Dual VVT-i 4-cylinder petrol engine rated to deliver 105 PS and 136 Nm. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 4-speed automatic unit, and the SUV is a RWD vehicle. However, the Japanese automaker is likely to make some changes to the SUV so as to adapt it for the Indian market.
As far as the features are concerned, the global model comes with LED headlights and LED DRLs, 17-inch dual tone alloy wheels, keyless entry, push-button start, and a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system etc. The Toyota Rush is also loaded on the safety front as the SUV’s higher priced variant comes with 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, stability control and hill start assist. According to the speculations, Toyota may price the Rush with a starting price near the Rs. 13 lakh price point.