Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has trademarked the Rumion nameplate in India. Before you get your hopes up for an all-new offering from the manufacturer, we need to tell you that this is what the rebadged Maruti Suzuki Ertiga will be called. The trademark hardly comes as a surprise considering the Ertgia has already been launched as the Toyota Rumion in South Africa. The model is built and exported to the South African market from MSIL’s plant in India. With Toyota’s Indian operations, the Rumion will follow a similar process where the model will be built at the Maruti Suzuki plant and sold via Toyota’s dealerships.
This, of course, is part of Suzuki and Toyota’s partnership to badge engineer cars and sell in different markets. Toyota already sells the Glanza (rebadged Baleno) and Urban Cruiser (rebadged Vitara Brezza) as part of the exercise. The company is gearing up to introduce the Toyota Belta next in India, which will be the rebadged Ciaz sedan. The Toyota Rumion is only expected to arrive next year considering the Belta launch is just right around the corner.
Compared to the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, the Toyota Rumion sports a new triple-slat chrome grille. The other cycle parts remain the same while the styling remains unchanged for the rest of the profiles in South Africa. Inside, the model gets an all-black cabin with wooden inserts and new upholstery. Expect the changes to be the same for India as well. The feature list will be identical as well and will include the SmartPlay Studio touchscreen infotainment system, push-button start-stop, climate control, remote keyless entry, day and night adjustable IRVM, power and tilt steering, and electrically adjustable and foldable ORVMs.
Power on the Toyota Rumion will come from the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder, K-Series petrol engine that develops 104PS and 138Nm of peak torque. The motor is paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. There’s also the Smart Hybrid variant with the 4-speed torque converter, as well as idle start-stop, brake energy regeneration and torque assist during acceleration.
The Ertiga gets dual airbags, ABS with EBD as standard. The model also comes with brake assist, ESP, hill hold function, rear parking sensors, and more as part of the safety kit. Expect all these features to be carried over on the Rumion. It will be interesting to see how Toyota jigs the variant line-up when compared to Maruti Suzuki. The Toyota Rumion is likely to arrive by early 2022.
Pricing will be identical to the Ertiga but the model is likely to be sold only to private buyers, while Maruti will continue to retail the Ertiga to fleet operators under its Tour range. Moreover, there’s also the more premium XL6 sold via the Nexa dealerships that automatically allows MSIL to cover more ground in terms of reach. The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga range begins from Rs. 7.96 lakh, going up to Rs.10.69 lakh (ex-showroom).
