The newly launched, Toyota Urban Cruiser, marks the Japanese car manufacturer’s debut in the compact SUV segment. The Urban Cruiser is the second product to be introduced, after the Glanza, under the Toyota-Suzuki joint venture in the country. The Toyota Urban Cruiser is essentially a rebadged version of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, with fresh cosmetic and feature updates. The Urban Cruiser is available in three variants - Mid, High, and Premium. Maruti Suzuki had launched the Vitara Brezza facelift in India in February 2020. The Vitara Brezza is primarily available in four variants - Lxi, Vxi, Zxi, and Zxi+. Read below to learn more about the key differences between these two models.

Exterior

The Toyota Urban Cruiser features two-slat wedge cut front grille with chrome surround and grey finish. The fascia is further adorned by dual chamber LED projector headlamps with chrome accents. This compact SUV gets dual function LED DRLs and turn indicators in the headlamps. The LED fog lamps with chrome accents add up to the style quotient. As for the sides, the vehicle rides on 16-inch diamond cut alloy wheels and features gun metal grey coloured roof rails. Toyota offers dual-tone colour options in the top-spec ‘Premium’ variant which include – spunky blue with sizzling black roof along with special dual-tone colours, rustic brown with sizzling black roof, and groovy orange with sunny white roof.

As compared to its predecessor, the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza gets fresh set of updates in the form of projector headlamps with LED DRLs which are complemented with a new grille. The compact SUV rides on new 16-inch dual-tone alloy wheels, LED tail-lights, revised rear bumper, leather wrapped steering wheel, and auto-dimming IRVM. The compact SUV is available in three new dual tone colour options including sizzling red with midnight black roof, torque blue with midnight black roof and granite grey with autumn orange roof. The dual-tone colour option is available only in top-spec Zxi+ variant.

Interior

The Toyota Urban Cruiser gets premium dark fabric seats and dual tone interior theme. The vehicle gets a leather wrapped steering wheel, a seven-inch Smart Playcast touchscreen audio system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and the smartphone-based navigation system. Additionally, the vehicle offers front centre sliding armrest with storage, four-door speakers and two tweeters, upper cooled grove box, and five-colour combimeter vibe lights.

The updated Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza gets a blink and miss update to the interior. The compact SUV gets all-black interior along with revised features like the new SmartPlay Studio infotainment system, auto-dimming IRVM, and more.

Engine

Mechanically, the Toyota Urban Cruiser is powered by a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine, borrowed from the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. This engine generates 103bhp and 138Nm of torque. This engine comes mated to a five-speed manual transmission and a four-speed automatic unit. All automatic variants receive an advanced lithium-ion battery and an integrated starter generator. The manual variant returns a fuel efficiency figure of 17.03kmpl, while the automatic variant has a fuel efficiency figure of 18.76kmpl.

The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza gets a BS6-compliant 1.5-litre K15B petrol engine that produces 103bhp and 138Nm of peak torque. It is paired to a five-speed manual gearbox and there’s also an automatic transmission for added convenience. As seen in the Urban Cruiser, the Vitara Brezza also gets the progressive smart hybrid technology in the automatic variants. The petrol manual variant has a fuel efficiency figure of 17.03kmpl, while the automatic variant will return a fuel efficiency figure of 18.76kmpl.

Conclusion

Although both the models share similar underpinnings, the Vitara Brezza is backed up by Maruti Suzuki’s wide service network. On the other hand, the Urban Cruiser is backed up by Toyota’s quality and reliability. Therefore depending on individual requirements, customers can opt from either one of them.