Toyota Urban Cruiser eBella Launch Confirmed: Pricing Coming Soon
Earlier today, it was reported that Toyota has cancelled the launch of the Urban Cruiser eBella. However, Toyota has officially denied the rumours about the cancellation of the eBella electric SUV in India. The company, in addition to the denial of these cancellation reports, has stated that it is gearing up for the launch of the eBella and its pricing will be announced very soon in the country.
As per the recent rumours, it was reported that Toyota had asked its dealers to refund the money for the bookings of the eBella to the customers. Due to this, a lot of confusion was created among buyers and dealerships because the Urban Cruiser eBella was unveiled in India on January 20th, and bookings had already commenced at dealerships across the country.
It was also claimed that Toyota had asked dealers to refund booking amounts to customers along with the interest incurred. As per the rumours circulating online, Toyota had allegedly decided to cancel the Urban Cruiser eBella before launch because of concerns regarding demand and profitability.
Reports had also claimed that the company was planning to compensate dealers for the investments made towards charging infrastructure, servicing setup, and sales preparations for the electric SUV. Additionally, it was also being said that dealers would be allowed to purchase existing inventory units, but they would not be permitted to retail them to customers.
All of these reports quickly spread across social media and created speculation that Toyota was abandoning its first mainstream EV launch in India. However, Toyota has now denied these reports and has clarified that the Urban Cruiser eBella launch is still happening. At the moment, the SUV is still listed on the official Toyota website, which again confirms that the launch plans are still active.
One of the biggest reasons behind these rumours was the slow sales performance of the Maruti Suzuki e Vitara, on which the Urban Cruiser eBella is based. As we know, the eBella is essentially Toyota’s rebadged version of the Maruti Suzuki e Vitara. Both SUVs share the same platform, battery packs, and most of the features.
So, as the e Vitara has not managed to pull in very strong sales numbers despite being one of the most anticipated electric SUVs in India, I believed that Toyota lost faith in the eBella and decided to cancel it. Deliveries of the e Vitara started in February, and during the first month, the company reportedly sold less than 230 units. In March, sales improved to around 1,200 units, and in April, around 1,231 units were sold.
Although these numbers are not extremely poor, they are very modest considering the growing EV segment in India. The electric SUV space has also become highly competitive, with rivals such as the Mahindra BE 6, Tata Curvv.ev, Hyundai Creta Electric, and the MG Windsor EV attracting a lot of buyers.
Another reason believed to be behind the speculation was pricing. Since the Urban Cruiser eBella is being manufactured by Maruti Suzuki at its Hansalpur plant in Gujarat, Toyota was expected to price it at a premium over the e Vitara. This raised concerns that the SUV could become expensive in an already competitive market, which would hurt its sales from the very start.
Now that it has been confirmed that the Urban Cruiser eBella will indeed be launched, here are the details of the powertrain options which will be offered with this electric SUV. It will include two battery packs, of which the smaller will be the 49 kWh battery pack that will produce 144 PS. And the other will be the larger 61 kWh battery pack, which will make 174 PS.
Both will produce the same 189 Nm of torque. Toyota claims that the larger battery pack can offer a claimed range of up to 543 km on a single charge. The SUV will also support both AC and DC fast charging. Using a DC fast charger, the battery can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in around 45 minutes.
Toyota is expected to announce the prices of the Urban Cruiser eBella in the coming weeks. The SUV is likely to start at around Rs 18 lakh ex-showroom and will be offered in three variants, namely E1, E2, and E3. Once launched, the Urban Cruiser eBella will compete with the Maruti Suzuki e Vitara, Hyundai Creta Electric, Tata Curvv.ev, Mahindra BE 6, MG ZS EV, and the MG Windsor EV.