New Toyota Corolla India Launch Unlikely, Toyota-Suzuki MPV To Fill In The Space

On sale for almost two decades, Toyota India has retired one of the highest selling nameplates in the world

Discontinued Toyota Corolla Altis

With the implementation of BS6 emission norms, Toyota has discontinued the BS4 Corolla Altis from its lineup. The mid-size sedan, nearing the end of its life cycle in India, has a new-gen model already on sale globally. However, it's unlikely that Toyota will bring the new model to India.

New-gen Toyota Corolla

The carmaker told us, “We have been watching the market response and we witness that customer preference is evolving in the C segment from Sedan to MPV body type. Considering such evolving market needs, we will decide on our further course of action.”

Sales of midsize sedans are miniscule compared to compact and midsize SUVs or even MPVs. Hence, in place of the Corolla, Toyota will introduce an MPV co-developed with Maruti Suzuki. The upcoming C-segment MPV is part of the Toyota-Suzuki business partnership which involves technology and vehicle sharing in select markets like India, Europe and Africa.

The MPV in question will sit above the Ertiga and will rival the Mahindra Marazzo. It will be manufactured at one of the two Toyota's plants in Bengaluru. While only the development plans have been announced so far officially, there is no confirmation about the launch timeline of the vehicle yet. That said, the Marazzo rival should be launched as a Toyota vehicle first and supplied later to Suzuki.

The diesel-only Mahindra Marazzo has no direct rivals as it currently sits between the Ertiga and Innova Crysta. Some of its lower variants, however, clash with the Ertiga-based XL6, which comes with a redesigned front profile, seating layout and additional features.

However, the Marazzo will also have to fend off competition from an upcoming people mover from Ford. The Ford MPV will be based on the Marazzo but is expected to have a completely different design as part of the Mahindra-Ford partnership. We believe there will be some action happening in this segment in 2021.