When it comes to small passenger cars, you can count on Suzuki to roll out some solid models. There’s the affordable S-Presso, the sporty Swift, the evergreen Jimny, and the practical Ertiga. But Suzuki also wants in on the midsize MPV market, too.
For that, Suzuki is asking for a bit of from Japan’s largest automaker to dip its toes in the market. And if you haven’t guessed who that manufacturer is, that would be Toyota. With that, Suzuki has confirmed that its midsize MPV will be revealed within the next three months. That said, Suzuki is adapting an interesting strategy for its larger seven-seater.
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Instead of co-engineering a new model with Toyota, Suzuki will be producing a rebadged version of the Innova. Mind you, it won’t be a blatant rebadge of the popular MPV. Rather, there will be a few visual changes to its exterior, and a few more features inside. As for the name, various Indian automotive publications (such as Gaadiwaadi) have mentioned Engage as its possible moniker.
If you’re wondering how this came to be, it’s worth pointing out that Toyota and Suzuki have an agreement to build cars for each other in certain parts of the world. Toyota even rebadges the Ertiga for the African market and calls it the Rumion. The Toyota-Suzuki swaps don’t stop there. The Vitz is a rebadged Celerio, the Toyota Glanza and Suzuki Baleno are essentially the same car, and Toyota even slapped on some of its badges on the Ciaz.
Gaadiwaadi also reports that the Suzuki version of the Innova will be marketed as a more premium model than the Innova. It’s likely because Suzuki has a far greater market share than Toyota compared to the rest of Asia. It has also been suggested that the Suzuki Engage will only be offered with a hybrid powertrain.
