As part of Maruti‘s and Toyota‘s joint alliance where in both the companies will be supplying cars to each other. Maruti will be supplying its Vitara Brezza and Baleno models to Toyota while the Japanese manufacturer will give its Corolla to Maruti. Until now, this alliance was known to be only for providing joint manufacturing and sales of the cars but a new development suggests there is more.
While the Toyota Corolla will be given to Maruti, new reports suggest that Maruti will supply its 1.5-litre petrol engine to Toyota for the new Corolla. This same engine will also be powering the soon to be launched 2018 Maruti Ciaz. The launch of the new Corolla however will be around the year 2020.
If Maruti’s Smart Hybrid Vehicle System (SHVS) will also be carried over to the new Toyota Corolla. We can assume the SHVS or an indigenous Toyota hybrid system will be used as the company will want to compensate for the lower power from the 1.5-litre petrol engine. If this happens, then the Corolla should be able to get a claimed mileage of nearly 21.56 km/l just like the 2018 Maruti Ciaz. The hybrid system will also enable the Corolla to meet the BS6 emission norms and be future ready.
Maruti will even be investing 1 billion dollars in Toyota’s India plant for expansion. The first rebadged car from this arrangement will be the Maruti Baleno that will be introduced in mid-2019. Maruti will also be reentering the D-segment with its version of the Toyota Corolla.