The next-gen Toyota
Innova is still a few years away from coming into existence, but one of its
first details is already out. A new report from livemint says that it will
likely be offered with a hybrid system instead of a diesel engine.
Toyota has been
working towards introducing cleaner and eco-friendly vehicles, and this
includes replacing the diesel engines with the hybrid powerhouses. However,
some of its MPVs, SUVs and pickup trucks continue relying on diesel engines at
large. In Europe, the company started phasing out diesel passenger vehicles
last year.
The Toyota Innova
is mostly preferred with a diesel engine in India, where it is sold with a
'Crysta' suffix. However, with the BS-VI emission norms set to become effective
in April 2020, the CAFE norms following in 2022 and the Real Driving Emissions
(RDE) becoming mandatory in 2023, retaining diesel engines is going to be very
difficult.
Maybe the next-gen
Toyota Innova will be offered with only petrol engines and a petrol-electric
full-hybrid powertrain. If Toyota not going to develop diesel engines that
comply with the stricter norms early next decade, it could mean that even the
Toyota Fortuner would switch from diesel to hybrid.
