Japanese automaker Toyota has been in our market for over two decades. During this time, they have launched several models in our market. Toyota has become popular among Indian buyers for its reliability, low maintenance cost, and comfort. Over the past two years around the world, the demand for SUVs has increased and the Indian scenario is no different. Several manufacturers have started to introduce SUVs, especially SUVs of less than 4 meters and of medium size in India. Toyota is also planning to launch a new mid-size SUV on the market and the same was spotted in testing on our roads recently. A Toyota RAV4 SUV test vehicle was recently spotted testing on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai highway.
The spy photos of the Toyota RAV4 were shared by IAB on their website. Spy photos only show the rear profile of the RAV4 SUV. The SUV was spotted trying out without any camouflage. The SUV looks like the version sold in the international market. The IAB also mentions that the reader who sent these images confirmed that the RAV4 was in testing with ARAI. This suggests that Toyota will soon launch the RAV4 on the Indian market.
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The Toyota RAV4 is an SUV already available in international markets. The one spotted here is the fifth generation RAV4 which uses the TNGA-K platform. This is the same platform used in Toyota Camry. Looking at the photos we notice a badge on the lower right side of the boot. We have seen a similar type of badge on Toyota’s hybrid vehicles in the past. This indicates that the Toyota RAV4 will be launched with a plug-in hybrid powertrain in our market.
Internationally, Toyota offers a RAV4 with a gasoline engine only, but we don’t know if Toyota will bring it to India. Toyota is expected to bring the RAV4 to India as a fully built unit (CBU) under the 2,500 unit import quota. This means that the Toyota RAV4 is by no means going to be a cheap SUV. This is a mid-size SUV but with higher import taxes the hybrid version of the Toyota RAV4 is expected to cost around Rs 60 lakh.
Coming to the engine specifications of the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, it is powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder Atkinson cycle gasoline engine. This gasoline engine is associated with an electric motor. The gasoline engine and electric motor jointly develop 218 Ps in two-wheel drive models. The sam engine develops around 222 Ps in all-wheel drive versions. The engine will be mated to a CVT gearbox option.
In terms of features, the cabin of the Toyota RAV4 SUV will receive an 8.0-inch floating touchscreen infotainment screen that supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It will also get a top-of-the-line audio system from JBL, a wireless phone charger. The international version of the RAV4 also has safety features like collision warning with pedestrian detection and emergency braking, dynamic cruise control, lane departure warning, steering aids, and more. We don’t know how many of these features would be available in the Indian version. Toyota is expected to launch the RAV4 in the Indian market by mid-2021.
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