It’s safe to say that the Rush is the, um, veteran of Toyota’s subcompact seven-seater range. The Avanza has shifted to a new direction with its front-wheel drive and unibody platform, while the Veloz has matured into its own thing.
Introduced in the Philippines way back in 2018, the current Toyota Rush made its world premiere in late 2017. That now makes this high-riding three-row MPV seven years old.
OTHER STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
The GAC Emkoo Hybrid will make its local debut at MIAS 2024 this week
Is Changan PH launching a pickup soon?
At the moment, it seems that there is no successor in sight. However, that isn’t stopping Toyota from giving the Rush a bit of an update for the 2024 model year.
In Indonesia, the Toyota Rush gets updated looks from the outside and a few upgrades inside. That said, it’s worth pointing out that the changes only apply for the top-spec variant, the GR Sport.
At the front, there’s a new grille that sports a different set of slats. Along with that is a bolder front bumper design and faux skid plate. The fender flares are now painted gloss black, while the rear bumper gets a more unique design over the standard models. Capping off the 2024 changes to the Rush GR Sport are a set of new alloy wheels.
For fans of all-black interiors, they might like what they did to the 2024 model. The light grey headliner has been replaced with a black one, and the same applies to the door arm rests and lower dash panel. It’s also been fitted with a much larger and heavily updated touchscreen audio system. That’s something we’d like to see in the local-spec Toyota Rush, too.
Mechanically, it remains unchanged. The new Rush GR-S and the rest of the variants retain the 1.5-liter Dual VVT-i engine that makes 104hp and 141Nm of torque. It’s still saddled with a four-speed automatic transmission.
Despite its age, the Toyota Rush is still a solid seller for Toyota in the Philippines. Given that, we wouldn’t be surprised if the 2024 updates eventually makes its way to local showrooms soon.
