TOYOTA has delighted fans with plans to bring back a long-forgotten model but with a modern twist.
The Urban Cruiser is the Japanese manufacturer’s second electric and is expected to rival the Volvo EX40, Peugeot e-3008 and Mini Aceman.
The car is an indirect successor of the crossover, that was pulled from European production in 2014.
It’s also been marketed as the slightly larger electric equivalent to the Yaris Cross – which is one of Toyota’s best-sellers.
The move comes as Toyota revealed plans to reach emissions goals for 2025 after it failed to hit targets this year by nearly 15 percent.
The car also ditches the bZ naming strategy and will name electric cars in the same way as its petrol or diesel offerings.
Honda (e:NY) and Mercedes-Benz (EQ) also announced they are scrapping the names.
The Urban Cruiser was created after Toyota and Suzuki teamed up, making it very similar to Suzuki’s e-Vitara.
Both cars will have five seats and Suzuki’s Heartect-e and will be produced in India.
The Urban Cruiser comes in two battery options: 49kWh or 61kWh.
A 142bhp front-mounted motor is also offered on the smaller pack and a 172bhp motor on the larger.
Both sizes put out 140lb ft of torque.
The first examples will be rolled out in the UK next year with the vehicles expected to start from under £35,000.
For those looking for a sportier model, Toyota will be releasing a special edition of the GR Supra – 17 years after it was last pulled from the market.
The return of the famous nameplate was seen as something of a passion project of the firm’s chairman Akio Toyota, who said: “Even though Toyota had no plans to make a new Supra, just like a lot of other die-hard Supra fans around the world, I secretly wanted to make it.”
Offered with a choice of 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 3.0-litre six-pot BMW engines, both with either a manual or automatic gearbox, the latest Supra could hit a top speed of up to 163 mph without its limiter.
Now it’s set for retirement once again, but not before giving petrolheads one final treat with a 429bhp special edition model boasting aggressive new stylings and a race-inspired cockpit.
Known as the A90 Final Edition, numbers will of course be limited – with just 300 units to be sold globally.
Autocar believes it could be one of Toyota’s fastest road cars yet, with power that outranks the Porsche 911 Carrera thanks to revisions to the airflow system, a new low-back-pressure exhaust catalyst, and changes to the ECU mapping.
