Toyota’s upcoming SUV will likely draw plenty of design influence from the FT-4X concept and it will share components with Mazda’s version
Toyota has recently announced that it would be building its brand new SUV at the Huntsville plant in Alabama in the United States. The Japanese manufacturer did not reveal any details of the upcoming SUV, except where it would be produced but there have been several interesting details already emerged on the internet.
A report surfaced on Car & Driver indicates that the sports utility vehicle will have several commonalities with Mazda’s version to bring down the costs down. Alongside sharing components and suppliers, the Mazda SUV will also be manufactured at the same plant.
Despite waiting to be rolled out from the same production facility, they won’t undergo rebadge treatment. Instead, they will be developed by Toyota and Mazda in their own right and have clear differentiation in character based on each brand’s perception of how to position their respective models taking the value of the company and customer interest into account supposedly.
In a nutshell, they won’t follow the same route as the Toyota Yaris, which is essentially a rebadged Mazda 2. Production at the 1.6 billion USD facility will commence in 2021 and its annual capacity stands at 3,00,000 vehicles. Toyota and Mazda will evenly share the capacity for producing their vehicles.
Apart from the report of the component sharing, the publication did not get more information from the inner circles. The Toyota badged SUV will most likely be the production-spec FT-4X concept. It was revealed at the 2017 New York Auto Show and showed the brand’s intention to develop more accessible SUVs in the international markets.
The FT-4X concept was said to be 75 per cent production ready when it was showcased and it rides on the TNGA architecture while offering a spacious interior and the all-important all-wheel-drive configuration, unlike the C-HR. Mazda’s version may adopt CX-7 nameplate and it is believed to be positioned between the CX-5 and CX-9.