Toyota Vitz rebadged as Maruti Celerio coming to South Africa, check details

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Toyota Vitz rebadged as Maruti Celerio coming to South Africa, check details (Image: Twitter/@ToyotaSA)
Toyota Vitz rebadged as Maruti Celerio coming to South Africa, check details (Image: Twitter/@ToyotaSA)

Delhi : Maruti Suzuki and Toyota have a very successful business relationship that benefits both organisations greatly. The Vitara Brezza was rebadged as the Urban Cruiser in India, the Baleno was rebadged as the Glanza, the Urban Cruiser Hyryder was rebadged as the Grand Vitara, and now Maruti Suzuki plans to market the Innova Hycross. The same cars are sold under several brands thanks to badge engineering.

The Maruti Suzuki and Toyota logo swap scheme is not just available in India. Toyota already offers the Starlet (rebadged Baleno), Urban Cruiser (rebadged Vitara Brezza), and Rumion in countries like South Africa (rebadged Ertiga). These are all imported from India and taken on loan from Maruti Suzuki.

Toyota Vitz rebadged as the Maruti Celerio

The Toyota Vitz, which is essentially a Maruti Suzuki Celerio and not a Toyota Yaris, has now been displayed in South Africa. The logo is the only alteration to the car, as you could have anticipated. Let's examine the Toyota Vitz and where it would fit in the company's South African product lineup.

Why did we mention the Toyota Yaris earlier? I'm sure you're wondering.  There is a valid explanation for that. The name Toyota Vitz is not new. For various markets, Toyota has in the past given this moniker to Yaris hatchbacks. Toyota is now utilising it on a Celerio that has been renamed and displayed in South Africa.

At Toyota's State of the Motor Industry (SOMI) meeting, which was recently held in Johannesburg, Vitz was introduced. The first nation to receive the Toyota Vitz, a Celerio rebadged, is South Africa. It will debut in South Africa in the second quarter of 2023, according to Toyota. The Suzuki-branded Celerio has already been released in South Africa, and costs there are anticipated to be comparable.

Toyota has not disclosed the price of Vitz, speaking of prices. As the Celerio is priced between Rand 178,900 and Rand 213,900 (about Rs. 8.46 lakh) we can draw conclusions (approx Rs. 10.11 lakh). In South Africa, a rise of almost 5,000 Rand is anticipated. As of right now, Toyota's Agya, which starts at Rand 200,000, is the least expensive vehicle available there (approx Rs. 9.45 lakh)

Details and Functionalities

Toyota and Maruti Suzuki both offer some variation between their brand-engineered vehicles in India. Baleno, Glanza, Urban Cruiser Hyryder, and Grand Vitara all have new appearances. Before, everything was identical, but for their branding, thus this wasn't the case. Toyota has adopted a similar strategy in South Africa; only the logo has altered.

A 1.0L NA 3-cylinder engine with 66 horsepower and 89 Nm of torque is included with the Celeio. Both a 5-speed MT and a 5-speed AMT are connected to it. Toyota Vitz is anticipated to offer the same engines as well. Keyless entry, an engine start/stop button, power windows, and a 7" touchscreen with connected Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are the Celerio's selling factors.