Although the Hilux remains Toyota’s local sales hero, sourcing a range of low-cost products from Maruti Suzuki in India has given the market leader a significant boost at the lower end of the market.
Through this partnership, Toyota offers South Africans the Vitz and Starlet hatchbacks as well as the Urban Cruiser compact SUV and the Rumion MPV.
But there are two highly successful Suzuki products that Toyota hasn’t laid its badge engineering hands on yet, and it appears they are off limits.
“Toyota wanted to badge engineer the Jimny and Swift, but we politely declined,” an unnamed Suzuki source told Autocar India recently.
“It’s like asking Toyota to let us badge engineer the Land Cruiser. Models that are at the heart of our brand are not meant for sharing and both companies respect that,” the company source added.
The Swift could have given Toyota a significant volume boost, both in India and South Africa. The Suzuki model averages around 17,000 sales per month in the former market, according to Autocar India, while the most recent Naamsa numbers show it consistently moving over 1,200 units per month in SA.
The Swift’s safety credentials have been called into question, however, with Global NCAP awarding the compact hatch just one star in its most recent crash test.
Toyotas outselling their Suzuki twins
The badge-engineered Toyotas have become big business in South Africa, with all but one of the current offerings outselling their Suzuki counterparts.
In the last three reported sales months (September to November) the Starlet saw a monthly average of 1,262 sales, while its Suzuki Baleno twin mustered 438.
The entry-level Vitz averaged 738 monthly sales, versus 221 for the Celerio, while the Toyota Urban Cruiser outsold the Grand Vitara with 554 units to 310.
The only exception was on the MPV scene where the Suzuki Ertiga seven-seater outsold the Toyota Rumion with a monthly average of 487 versus 366.
But just because the ever-popular Swift and iconic Jimny remain off-limits for Toyota doesn’t mean we won’t see other rebadged Suzuki products expanding the portfolio.
It is strongly rumoured that the Suzuki Fronx compact crossover will soon spawn a Toyota Taisor for the Indian market, which would presumably land in SA, hopefully with a different name.
Suzuki and Toyota are said to be co-developing an affordable electric car that could see the light of day as soon as 2025.
It’s also possible that we might see more Toyota products with Suzuki badges. While none of these are offered in South Africa at present, Suzuki’s European division currently sells a rebadged Rav4 as the Across and a Corolla wagon as the Swace.
Dare we suggest that a Suzuki-badged Hilux might be on the horizon at some point?