Toyota to launch LandCruiser Prado diesel and Fortuner in India

Posted at January 31st, 2009 under Auto News | 3 Comments »  Print This Post  Email This Post

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Soon you would see a new Toyota in India. Toyota has started firing on all cylinders to conquer the Indian market. We already heard about Indian specific small car and a yaris type sedan.

LandCruiser diesel

Adding to the small cars, Toyota plans to bring behemoth SUV’s such as Fortuner and diesel variant of LandCruiser to India. These are true SUV’s, they are big and comes with a diesel engine.  Toyota already sells LandCruiser prado with a petrol engine in India.  Similar to petrol variant, Landcruiser prado diesel variant will be imported as a CBU. “The Land Cruiser is under study and the recent changes to the regulations governing the import of vehicles give us an opportunity to bring the model to India,” Sandeep Singh, deputy MD (marketing) of Toyota’s Indian JV Toyota Kirloskar Motors  said. “We are hopeful that a diesel engine will give us more volumes and help get a higher market share,” Singh added. Landcruiser diesel will compete against the likes of BMW X5 and Volkswagen Touareg. LandCruiser diesel is expected to be priced upwards of Rs42 lakhs.

Fortuner

Fortuner the most expected monster form Toyota India staple will finally hit the roads in 2009. Fortuner built on the  same IMV platform as our Innova will help the Toyota to utilise it full capactiy in its Bangalore plant. The 1.8 tonne Fortuner will come with a 3.0-litre D-4D diesel again from the same family as the Innova. Fortuner produces 163 bhp and 250Nm of max torque.  A five-speed manual gearbox and an optional four-wheel-drive will complete the powertrain setup.The good news is Toyota plans to assemble Fortuner in India from the first car itself. Hence it will attract lesser import duty and it is expected to be priced between Rs18 to Rs20 lakhs.

Pictures of new Toyota Fortuner