Cars & Bikes – 3 |

The latest Toyota Land Cruiser has a process tag of just over $70K. Westminster Toyota dealer says that is certainly a far cry from earlier Land Cruiser generations that were ultra basic and utilitarian. Inside, customers at Irvine Toyota dealers say the dash feels more like a bridge of a large ship than that of an SUV. There are endless gadgets and luxuries that the driver has to enjoy, even voice activated navigation, JBL sound system, and a wide range of other comforts.
For off-road enthusiasts, the Toyota Land Cruiser has nearly unmatched credentials. Not only does it have a history of off road capabilities, but the current Land Cruiser did not go soft despite having a more upscale attitude according to Cheyenne Auto dealers. Full-time all wheel driver, a locking differential, and a limited slips differential, the Toyota Land Cruiser can travel just about anywhere you would need it to.

Also on the cards for a long time has been the Fortuner SUV. Sources at Toyota have hinted that the carmaker has sorted out the product planning for the SUV and will soon assemble complete knock down units of the Fortuner at their Bidadi plant. The SUV will use a 3.0 litre, 163PS diesel engine as its only option for India. This KD series engine shares its DNA with the 2.5litre D-4D mill from the Innova. The SUV is expected to finish homologation procedures soon and is expected to hit showroom floors by early 2009 at a price tag of Rs 18lakh. The Fortuner will compete with the newly launched Outlander and the established players like the Endeavour, the CR-V and the Captiva. The third car from Toyota is the Yaris sedan. We caught the hatchback version on test a couple of months back but it is the sedan that will feel the Indian tarmac first.

After a long slumber and having an unexciting product portfolio, Toyota India has decided to bounce back with some stirring launches lined up in the near future. This time around, the company’s primary focus lies on diesel powerplants primarily owing to the luxury saloon market’s recent inclination towards the cheaper and more economical diesel fuel. Hence, the first model that is speculated to roll out is an oil burner variant of the recently launched Corolla Altis. While a 2.0 litre diesel sibling of the Altis is already sold in Europe, the mounting points of the diesel motor differ from the petrol model sold here. It may not be feasible to reengineer the entire engine bay as it would involve a lot of investment and testing. Toyota can, however, consider the 1.4 litre turbo diesel mill from the Yaris and boost it to pump out close to 100PS of power. The economical variant will not only give Toyota a larger market share but will also take its historic battle with the Honda Civic to a whole new level.