Toyota Innova Crysta petrol launch in August 2016

Bookings for the Toyota Innova Crysta with a petrol engine have commenced with the variant expected to be launched in the first week of August 2016.

The undisputed king of the MPV/MUV segment in India has always been the Toyota Innova ever since it was first launched in 2005. In the month of May 2016, Toyota launched the second generation of the MUV called in Innova Crysta after its debut at the Auto Expo.

It has now come to light that Toyota will be launching the petrol engine version of the Innova as well in the first week of August. While the company has started taking bookings for the same and is advertising the same as well.

Initially, Toyota equipped the Innova Crysta with only diesel engine options consisting of a 2.4-litre engine with a manual gearbox and a 2.8-litre engine with an automatic gearbox, and was launched at a price range of Rs. 13.83 lakh – Rs. 20.77 lakh ex-showroom.

However, due to the diesel ban in the national capital region, that was imposed by the Supreme Court of India in late 2015, and has now been imposed in the state of Kerela as well, Toyota has not been able to sell the Innova Crysta in these regions and needless to say, this has hurt their sales. Delhi NCR has been one of the biggest market for the Innova which Toyota has not been able to capitalise with the Crysta due to the ban.

Despite this the Innova Crysta sold 7,259 units in its first month on sale in India, surpassing the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and the Hyundai Creta which sold 7,193 units and 7,057 units respectively. Toyota has received around 30,000 booking for the MPV currently and and as of now has a 2-3 month waiting period on the vehicle. To meet the growing demands of the vehicle, Toyota is increasing its production of the Innova Crysta to 7,800 units a month from the initial 6,000 units.

In the international market, Toyota offers the Innova with a 2.0-litre petrol engine. To cater to the regions effected by the diesel ban in India, Toyota has reportedly fast tracked the development of a brand new, more powerful 2.7-litre, Dual VVT-i petrol engine that develops around 161bhp and 245Nm of torque. The engine is expected to come with the same 5-speed manual and 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox currently on sale in India.

Both in manual and in automatic transmissions, the petrol Innova will be offered in two trim variants each, and is expected to be priced Rs, 50,000 - 60,000 below the diesel versions.

Also Read: Toyota Innova Crysta Review: First drive