Introduction

Before we talk about the new and updated Toyota Glanza, it’s a perfect opportunity to take some time out and take a look at how it came to be. We know it’s a rebadged Maruti Suzuki Baleno. But why was there a need for Toyota India to do the rebadge engineering? Here’s a little history rundown. It all started a few years back when two big Japanese carmakers Toyota Motor Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation realized that there were a lot of benefits that can be had if they combined their resources. You see Toyota had advanced levels of hybrid and electrification technology. Meanwhile, Suzuki had expertise in small cars. Each one had something the other one didn’t.

Products of this collaboration are now seen across various automotive markets. For instance, the Suzuki A-Cross for the European market is nothing but Toyota RAV-4. Suzuki Swace is a rebadged Toyota Corolla. And similarly, the Glanza was built alongside the Baleno on the same assembly line. So when new and updated Baleno was launched a few weeks back, we predicted a new Glanza should arrive within a month. And here it is. Let us take a closer look at everything there is to know about the refreshed 2022 Toyota Glanza.

Exterior Design

Now when Toyota introduced the Glanza two years, we all complained that there was no effort taken to at least separate the Glanza from the Baleno. The grille and logos were changed and Toyota called it a day. Thankfully that’s not the case with this update. If you are familiar with the international models from Toyota’s stable you’ll be aware of their modern design language. And thankfully the newer design of the Baleno’s grille and headlamp has helped Toyota to impress upon the same in the Glanza. The sleek chrome line running across the grille is similar to the one seen on the Camry and the headlamp design looks much sharper than the Baleno’s. This might be because of one simple design change – where the Baleno gets a three-barrel design for LED inside the headlamp, here there’s a single LED strip. It makes the Glanza look more European and stylish.

Lower down, there are blacked-out inserts surrounding the mesh grille, which is an interesting element in terms of design, and looks nice at least in the pictures. Flanking those tusk-like inserts are circular fog lamps with chrome surrounds. There is a newer alloy wheel design that gels well with the overall stance of the Glanza. At the back, the changes compared to the outgoing model include redesigned taillamps and a reworked bumper. But there are little to no changes compared to what you saw in the Nexa’s offering. Also, there are five exterior paint options on offer here – white, silver, blue, black and red.

Interior Design

We saw a huge change inside the cabin of the Baleno with many segment-first features and equipment added to the refreshed interior. All these changes are here in the Glanza as well but with a few mentionable changes. So on the inside, there’s a floating touchscreen with a newer interface and a heads-up display which should be the talking point of the new Glanza. The biggest difference here is that instead of a black-blue combination of the Baleno, you get a rather conventional black-white finish with a gloss black insert elevating the cabin feel. Even the flat-bottom steering wheel which we have seen in the Swift and Baleno is refurbished with a piano black finish.

Features and Equipment

Instead of just two variants offered before, the refreshed Glanza is now available across four variants. In addition to thee G and V, the two new variants E and S are added to the mix. So the variants bifurcation of the Glanza goes – E, S, G and V. In terms of variant wise comparison, the E trim is equivalent to Nexa’s Sigma, S is to Delta, G is Zeta, and V is the same as Alpha trim of the Baleno. Except for the E, you can get an automatic version for all the other three variants.

Feature-wise, the E trim offers halogen projectors, steel wheels, remote keyless entry, auto AC, spoiler and rear parking sensors. Move to the S version and the additional features you get includes body-coloured ORVMs, Smartplaycast music system with four speakers, steering mounted control, and parcel tray at the back. In the G trim, features added to the list include 16-inch alloy wheels, LED projector, auto headlamps, rear wipers, a colour display for the instrument cluster, a seven-inch touchscreen with android auto and apple CarPlay and voice commands, six speakers, push-button start-stop function, rear parking camera, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, height-adjustable driver’s seat, rear AC vents, 60:40 split seats, and fast USB charger for rear seats. Toyota’s connected car tech is also available from the G trim.

Lastly, the fully-loaded V trims get you a segment-first heads-up display, 360-degree camera, LED foglamps and DRLs, UV protected glass, a larger nine-inch touchscreen, auto-folding ORVMs and auto-dimming IRVMs, cruise control, and premium Arkamys sound system.

The standard safety features include ABS with EBD, dual front airbags, ISOFIX and auto door locks. The AMT versions also get ESP and hill hold function. And lastly, the top-spec V version comes with six airbags.

Engine

There’re no drastic changes under the skin. So there’s a familiar 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine on offer which puts out 89bhp of power and 113Nm of torque. This motor belongs to the K12 family and can be had either with a five-speed manual or an AMT transmission instead of a CVT. The ARAI efficiency figure for Glanza’s manual version is 22.35kmpl and the AMT is claimed at 22.94kmpl. We will of course give out real-world fuel efficiency figures once we test the Glanza ourselves.

Pricing and Competition

If you are considering buying the Glanza, the pricing starts at Rs 6.39 lakh for the E variant. The S trim ranges between Rs 7.29 lakh to 7.79 lakh while the G trim is priced in the range of 8.24 – 8.74 lakh. The top-spec fully loaded V trim carries a price tag between Rs 9.19 lakh and Rs 9.69 lakh. At this pricing, the Glanza is around Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 dearer than the equivalent Baleno versions. But for the slight premium, Toyota offers a bigger warranty package of three years/one lakh kilometres which can also be extended to five years/2.2 lakh kilometres.

Similar to the Baleno, the Glanza belongs to the B+ premium hatchback segment where it competes with the likes of Hyundai i20, Honda Jazz, Tata Altroz and Volkswagen Polo.

Stay tuned to our First Drive Review of the 2022 Toyota Glanza.