Toyota Vitz is the rebadged version of the Maruti Suzuki Celerio and it will go on sale in South Africa in the second quarter of this year
At Toyota’s State of the Motor Industry (SOMI) event, hosted at Johannesburg, the brand revealed a new affordable hatchback dubbed the Vitz. It will sit at the entry point of the Japanese auto major’s product portfolio in South Africa and it will go on sale officially in the second quarter of this calendar year.
The Vitz is the latest to come out of Toyota’s partnership with Suzuki as it is nothing but the rebadged version of the Celerio. It will become the fourth badge-engineered model to be available in South Africa following the Starlet (rebadged Baleno), Urban Cruiser (rebadged Vitara Brezza) and Rumion (rebadged Ertiga).
The second-generation Maruti Suzuki Celerio made its Indian market debut in late 2021 and South Africa becomes the first country to get a rebadged iteration. On the outside, nothing has changed except for the badge swapping as the Suzuki badge is ousted to make way for the Toyota badge. It could be priced cheaper than the Toyota Agya it replaces in SA.
As for the performance, the familiar 1.0-litre three-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine is utilised and it develops a maximum power output of 66 bhp at 5,500 rpm and 89 Nm of peak torque at 3,500 rpm. The powertrain will be linked with a five-speed manual transmission as standard or a five-speed AMT as an option.
Whether a CNG powertrain will be offered or not is yet unknown. It must be noted that the Vitz name was already used by Toyota for the Yaris in many international markets. With no dimensional changes, it measures a length of 3,695 mm, a width of 1,655 mm and a height of 1,555 mm with a wheelbase length of 2,435 mm.
The Toyota Vitz could tip the weighing scale at around 800 kilograms. The equipment list will comprise features such as central locking, all four power windows, electrically adjustable ORVMs, automatic climate control, hill-hold assist in AMT, keyless entry, steering wheel with mounted controls, rear windscreen washer and wiper, rear defogger, a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system, height-adjustable driver seat, fog lamps at the front, etc.