The new Toyota Quest was introduced to the South African motoring media at Toyota’s Durban plant last week and we were there.

Hard on the heels of the already successful 11th generation Toyota Corolla is the Toyota Quest. Spurred on by a challenge from the Japanese head office to innovate and develop region-specific products, Toyota South Africa came up with the Quest. I’ll be honest, I was expecting a stripped-out, bare-bones inferior product and I have to eat my words here as the Toyota Quest offers great build quality and feels quite premium.

Toyota Quest Cost

You can see the logic behind this product. Inflation and other factors have seen car pricing shoot up exponentially over the past few years. No longer can you get a basic family sedan for under R200 000. Well, until now, that is. Having this budget model which starts from R174 900 has two main benefits for Toyota South Africa. Firstly, this is a new segment for Toyota to break into and currently it’s only the Nissan Almera and Volkswagen Polo sedan which enjoy sales successes. Secondly, the Quest helps increase the production power of Toyota’s Durban plant as the vehicles produced are for both local markets and export.

As for the product itself, I was impressed. It’s completely locally built and shares components with its Corolla brother. Think of it as the Toyota equivalent of the Volkswagen Polo Vivo. Instead of creating an all-new product, why not use and re-use existing platforms, manufacturing methods and parts? The result is a solid, well-built and spacious family sedan which doesn’t cost the earth to own and run. For more information such as product details on the Toyota Quest, click here.

Factory Tour

The launch event consisted of a quick ride and drive from King Shaka airport to the Toyota factory right next to the old airport. We were given the higher-specification 1.6 Plus models (R197 900) to drive to the factory in. Upon arrival we had the mandatory briefing and then were issued protective clothing. Car factories are a hive of activity and if you’re fanatical about efficiency and cleanliness, you’ll find Toyota’s factory intriguing. After a tour of the facilities, we drove to the Oyster Box in Umhlanga for a lunch, before heading back to the airport.

Conclusion

In summary, the Toyota Quest is going to turn the market on its head in terms of sales. I predict the Toyota Quest will become a monthly best seller although I’d be a little concerned the vehicle will slightly affect Corolla sales. These days, pricing is a near-impossible beast to tame, but I think Toyota has seriously hit the sweet spot with this budget-busting product. Who says cheap cars have to be compromised?