Considering the influx of coupe SUVs from Tata, Mahindra and Citroen, we wish Toyota launched an indigenous Coupe SUV in India
Coupe SUVs are making quite some noise in India. We currently have Maruti Suzuki Fronx and recently launched Toyota Taisor on sale. Tata, Mahindra and Citroen are soon cashing on this niche. Should Toyota join the race with a more premium coupe SUV offering for Indian market? Is that why there is a Toyota C-HR test mule trundling around in Bengaluru? Let’s take a look.
Toyota C-HR Coupe SUV Spied Testing In Bengaluru
The company has launched a new C-HR for global market and is already on sale. However, the unit that was spotted testing in India was a previous-generation model. Said engineering unit was fully camouflaged and didn’t have any immediately notable exterior testing equipment to pinpoint what it might be testing.
Recent spy shots are credited to automotive enthusiast Pallavi Nitheesh. More interestingly, it had a big sticker on the side that read Continental. Along with being the world’s 4th largest tyre manufacturer, Continental is world’s third largest components supplier as well.
Continental is structured into six notable divisions – Chassis and Safety, Tyres, Interior, Powertrain, ContiTech and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). There is a very high probability that this test mule represents a joint tech partnership between Continental and Toyota.
This particular test mule could be testing any of the components within aforementioned substrata. Any technology that is under testing may go on a future Toyota car, current Toyota car or any of the Toyota-Suzuki badge-engineered cars of the present or future. Multiple reports were suggesting C-HR launch in India.
But those were before partnership with Suzuki and the newer C-HR is already on sale globally and might make this previous-gen vehicle come off as obsolete. Considering the recent rise in Indian car buyer’s appetite for premium cars and coupe-styled SUVs, we wish Toyota to launch a “real Toyota” coupe-SUV in India.
Is it the same test mule from 2020?
When we saw this recent test mule, we couldn’t help but wonder whether it was the same unit spotted in 2020. Turns out, it is. Unit spotted in 2020 also had a Continental sticker on the side (slightly wonky, for my OCD friends out there) and black glue tape around its fuel filler cap.
Question arises, what have Toyota and Continental been testing for more than 4 years? Was the testing paused temporarily and commenced again recently? We reckon Toyota may be working on flex-fuel powertrain possibilities or demonstration of the same. We say this because Toyota C-HR used to get a flex-fuel powertrain (1.8L 2ZR-FBE, code – ZGX11). More details might be revealed in the future.
