Toyota Urban Cruiser likely to be the rebadged Maruti Vitara Brezza

- Toyota has trademarked the Urban Cruiser name in India

- Toyota would want to build on the Urban Cruise nameplate by leveraging the Land Cruiser heritage

- Will be launched in India later this year

Toyota Motor Corporation has trademarked the Urban Cruiser brand name in India. The Toyota Urban Cruiser could be the production name of the rebadged Maruti Vitara Brezza.

Now, why do we think so? Well, Toyota is known for using its international nameplates in India, as is apparent from the Baleno-based Toyota Glanza. Toyota marketed the sportier version of the 90 Series Starlet as the Glanza in global markets. Coming back to the Urban Cruiser moniker, the Japanese carmaker used this brand name for the second-generation Toyota ist crossover for the European markets.

Now, we already know that the second cross-badged product from the Toyota-Suzuki JV will be the rebadged Vitara Brezza. The carmaker markets its flagship SUV under the Land Cruiser moniker, and we believe Toyota would want to build on the Urban Cruiser nameplate for the Indian market by leveraging the Land Cruiser heritage. With the Vitara Brezza being an urban crossover, the Urban Cruiser name could work well for Toyota.

Toyota's version of the Maruti Vitara Brezza will be largely identical to the car it will be based on. That said, we can expect a redesigned grille and Toyota badges on the steering, alloys, grille and the tailgate. It will be powered by a 1.5-litre K15B petrol engine that makes 103.5bhp and 138Nm of peak torque. A five-speed manual and a four-sped torque converter automatic will be on offer.

This rival to the Hyundai Venue is likely to be launched later this year, once the Coronavirus pandemic subsides. It will also compete against the Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport, Mahindra XUV300 and the upcoming Kia Sonet.