India isn’t alien to the concept of cross badged cars or reworked versions of the same car being sold under different names. From the Renault Pulse-Nissan Micra, Renault Duster-Nissan Terrano, VW Vento-Skoda Rapid relationships, we’ve got a healthy taste of the same-same but different packages. But one that’s puzzled many are the launches coming through from the Toyota-Suzuki partnership i.e. the Toyota Glanza and Urban Cruiser, based on the Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Vitara Brezza respectively.
Given just how big Toyota is, many expected them to give India a stronger taste of what the brand does globally. At the very least, we expected the partnership’s products to be more than just rebadged versions of the same cars. So we take a look at the road that led to this strategy and try to understand the reasons for Toyota’s seemingly conservative moves.
