Toyota Innova facelift likely to come this festive season

The Toyota Innova is coming with a fresh face this festive season, with a launch likely in early November. The changes are largely cosmetic to this popular multi-utility vehicle in a bid to keep its image fresh in the minds of buyers.

The last facelift that the Toyota Innova got was in January 2012, with reshaped headlamps and minor changes to the bumper. This time the makeover is a bit more radical with the grille being worked on and given the full-chrome treatment. It’s now larger and extends down into the bumper giving the Innova a more aggressive look. The larger grille should also help in additional cooling for the vehicle. The headlamps remain the same, but the bumper has been revised to accommodate the larger grille and it gets a new airdam and new fog-lamp housing. Also see: Maruti Ertiga vs Toyota Innova comparison

At the rear the Innova is likely to get minor cosmetic updates as well. It will get a chrome strip with integrated reflectors pasted on the boot hatch, running between the tail lamps. It also gets a plastic cladding around the number plate. Although no information is available, Toyota may update the interiors as well, with different upholstery, although the Innova is already one of the most comfortable MPVs around. The infotainment system will be a touch-screen system and a roof-mounted DVD player may be offered as an option in the top-end variant.

These changes have already been carried out on the Innova in Indonesia, where it is called the Toyota Kijang Innova, while it’s just the Toyota Innova in other markets. In India, the Toyota Innova has sold 65,992 units in the past 12 months, which is just slightly behind the significantly cheaper Maruti Ertiga that sold 68,524 units in the past 12 months. In August, though, the Innova sold more than the Ertiga, with the Innova selling 5,075 units, while the Ertiga was at 4,563 units.  Also read: Renault Duster vs Toyota Innova – how they meet different needs

Mechanically, there won’t be any change to the Innova, and it will continue to be available with a 2.5 litre diesel engine and a 2.0 litre petrol engine option in the current trim levels. Both engines will come with a five-speed manual transmission, driving the rear wheels only.

With the facelift, the prices of the new Innova are likely to go up as well just after the festive season, owing to further depreciation of the rupee, and as the Innova uses some import components, there will be some pressure on Toyota to increase prices.