2008 Toyota Urban Cruiser

Press release

The new Toyota Urban Cruiser is an environmentally responsible small sports utility vehicle (SUV) aimed at the urban all-roader market. Presented at the Geneva Motor Show, the Toyota Urban Cruiser is the design preview of the production model that will be introduced in the first half of 2009. The new Toyota Urban Cruiser will be launched into the small-SUV market, a segment that has virtually doubled in size since 2002. It provides a thoughtful answer to the consumer desires for SUVs and for low fuel bills and CO2 emissions.

The new Urban Cruiser meets these demands with contemporary five-door styling and projected low CO2 emissions below the 140g/km threshold. The Urban Cruiser draws on Toyota’s rich heritage of successful SUVs. The first Toyota SUV, the legendary Land Cruiser off-roader, was launched in 1951. While the new Urban Cruiser embodies all of Toyota’s SUV past, it also represents the very latest in a line of compact SUVs, a market segment that Toyota created with the original RAV4 back in 1994.

The new Urban Cruiser is an aspirational urban SUV very close to the spirit of the discontinued 3-door RAV4 model with its compact dimensions, packaging, practicality and four-wheel drive transmission.

The new Urban Cruiser features the rugged and muscular appearance expected of an SUV, but with the five-door practicality and compact dimensions required for urban usage.

The Urban Cruiser measures 3,930mm in length and is 1,725mm wide and 1,540mm tall. While the compact dimensions make it ideal for handling city streets, the Urban Cruiser has spacious accommodation for five people and ample luggage space. Toyota’s Vibrant Clarity design language – the perfect imbalance of proportions - provides the Urban Cruiser with its athletic road stance.

The high belt line, additional bumper protection, prominent lower doorsills, and freeform geometrics that describe the muscular wheelarches provide the Urban Cruiser with a robust appearance. Headlamps reach backwards from the front grille and outwards into the wings, further accentuating the car’s wide and tough road stance while adding to the car’s upmarket city appeal.

Turn indicators recessed within the door mirrors further emphasise the car’s urban sophistication, as do the large rear lamp units which extend dramatically into the rear wings and into the rear hatch door. Stylish five-spoke 17 inch alloy wheels, along with a special Ice Blue paint finish that reflects the car’s environmental credentials, further enhance the Urban Cruiser’s sophisticated city appeal.

The new Urban Cruiser is an extension of Toyota’s small car line-up for the European market, providing consumers with a broad vehicle choice characterised by fuel efficiency and low emissions. The Urban Cruiser will play a significant role in reducing Toyota‘s overall fleet emissions to an average 140g/km by 2009.