Toyota Innova - A decade of dominance

Ever since its launch in 2005, the Toyota Innova has been a runaway success for the Japanese carmaker in India. Toyota sold more than half a million Innovas in India without making too many changes; it did get a few, like the introduction of an intercooler, a few cosmetic changes and additions to the equipment list.

Here are the changes implemented on the Innova over the years:

2005: On February 24, Toyota launched the Innova with a choice of a 2.0-litre VVT-I petrol and a 2.5-litre D-4D diesel engines. The pricing started from Rs 6.82 lakh and Rs 7.42 lakh for the base petrol and diesel variants.

2005 Toyota Innova

2009: Major changes include the addition of an intercooler; however no changes were seen in power and torque figures. Cosmetically, a new chin and grille were added.

2009 Toyota Innova

2011: The second facelift gave the Innova a new bumper, grille, new headlights and newly designed alloy wheels too. Inside the cabin, steering-mounted controls for the audio and climate control system on a few variants were offered. This iteration of the Innova saw the sales spiraling up to 75,911 units in the same year — the highest ever in the history of the car.

2011 Toyota Innova

2014: Toyota retains most of the design cues from the 2011 model, except for the addition of a larger grille with minor revisions on the front and rear bumpers, and jazzy body graphics on certain models. Toyota offers two airbags as standard equipment across all variants in this iteration.

2014 Toyota Innova

Over the last few years, we have seen new MPVs such as the Maruti Ertiga and the Honda Mobilio storm into the market, and of late the Ertiga has managed to outsell the Innova. But the Innova indisputably dominated the MPV segment for a decade and with sales numbers hovering around 5,000 units, it’s still far from finished. If the new model will continue to dominate is difficult to say now, but it will get better styling, a powerful engine and even more cabin space. The new Innova is expected to be launched sometime next year.

Comments

2018 Lamborghini Urus India review, test drive

On first introduction, it’s a recipe for intimidation. It’s claimed to be the fastest SUV in the world (0-100kph in 3.6sec and a top speed of 305kph puts it nearly in supercar territory), and it’s made by Lamborghini – creator of some of the most savage vehicles on the market. Things – as with any Lamborghini, for that matter – would be a lot less daunting if we were driving on a smooth European country road, a wide motorway, or even a race track. But today we’re driving the Urus on a narrow ghat road, as well as through some heavy Pune traffic. Perhaps the intention was to demonstrate that this is the first Lamborghini ever to go on sale in India that truly works in our conditions – but still, I doubt they accounted for rush hour. It’s requisitely mad to look at, employing as many ‘sporty’ design tropes to an SUV body style as possible – the only thing missing is a massive wing on the back; and somehow, it works. It’s ...

What to avoid during a car service

When it comes to getting their cars serviced at authorised outlets, owners usually go the whole hog. They want their cars coming out of service centres looking brand new, and are willing to pay for it. But do service centres take undue advantage of this? Yes, they do. Servicing may involve changing certain parts and oils after a set interval, but service centres will almost always try to plug in a few extras using technical jargon that a layman may not really understand. Certain processes are completely unnecessary, and customers end up paying extra as they are not aware of what's important and what's not. Also, most of the times, the service associate will throw you a hard sales pitch, and it's not always done with your best interests in mind. So what exactly are the things you don’t really need and should avoid? Engine flushing Flushing an engine simply means cleaning the impure oil and gunk that ...

Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV in the works

Rolls Royce has released the first pictures of its Cullinan SUV prototype. The company has said that only the length of the prototype gives clues about the production. The entire car is an engineering mock-up to test the new all-wheel drive transmission and suspension. The prototype, based on a shortened Phantom II, is set for road testing from the second week of April. The company has said that it would “assist Rolls Royce engineers in developing a final suspension system that will deliver the brand's hallmark 'magic carpet' ride not only on the road, but off-road too”. Rolls Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Ötvös had, some time back, confirmed to our sister publication Autocar UK, that the company was developing an all-new four-wheel drive high-bodied Rolls Royce. He had, however, avoided using the word ‘SUV’. The new Rolls Royce is expected to shatter existing price and size ceilings for a SUV, but as per the brand's design boss Giles Taylor, the SUV will be po...

Automobilestillnow

Search This Blog