Toyota says the new Urban Cruiser Taisor will wear a different badge in SA. We’ve done some digging and unearthed what might just be the newcomer’s name in Mzansi…
The new Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor is coming to South Africa, but the Japanese firm’s local division says it will be launched in our market “under a model name yet to be announced”. What could that name be? Well, Cars.co.za has spent some time digging, eventually unearthing what might just turn out to be the Taisor’s local moniker.
As a reminder, the Urban Cruiser Taisor was recently revealed in India, where it will be produced by Suzuki. Yes, this new coupé-style crossover is indeed based on the Suzuki Fronx (set apart by minor styling revisions, such as a new grille and fresh lighting signatures) as the latest product of the firms’ wide-reaching global alliance.
So, what have we found? Well, according to our information, there’s an exceedingly strong chance that Toyota SA Motors will call the Taisor the “ Toyota Starlet Cross ” in our market. In fact, Toyota Motor Corporation applied to register “Starlet Cross” as a trademark in South Africa (along with some other African markets, such as Algeria and Mozambique) as long ago as June 2022, the very same month it filed to trademark “Taisor” in India .
Interestingly, the “Starlet Cross” trademark has technically not yet been fully registered in South Africa, with the current status (in early April 2024) listed as “accepted with conditions”. This includes agreeing to disclaim the word “Cross” from the application, which means Toyota would (logically) not be able to prevent other companies from using this portion of the mark.
While a trademark application is by no means a guarantee that an automaker will indeed use the badge in question, the Starlet Cross moniker appears perfectly suited to the Urban Cruiser Taisor. After all, the Taisor is based on the same platform as the Starlet. In addition, the Starlet nameplate – which traces its roots back to the 1970s – is well known in Mzansi, with this Baleno-based hatch having sold up an absolute storm since arriving in September 2020 .
Furthermore, Toyota SA Motors has used the “Cross” suffix on established nameplates before (with great success), with the Prospecton-built Corolla Cross being both the most obvious recent instance and the only example in the current line-up. Other cases include the now-defunct Etios Cross and Yaris Cross. As an aside, the Fronx was initially expected to be called the Baleno Cross, but Suzuki eventually went with an amalgamation of “Frontier” and “X” (with “Fronx” fascinatingly having been trademarked in SA way back in 2014).
When will we see the new Toyota Starlet Cross (if it indeed ends up wearing that badge here) in South Africa? Well, Toyota SA Motors has yet to announce a launch date, though we certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the newcomer started rolling into Mzansi dealerships before the end of 2024.
Like the SA-spec Fronx (which made local landfall back in August 2023), we expect the Toyota-badged version to be offered locally with Suzuki’s ubiquitous K15B naturally aspirated 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine, sending 77 kW and 138 Nm to the front axle via either a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 4-speed automatic transmission. That’s despite the fact the Indian-spec model will be available with an atmospheric 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder petrol motor or a turbocharged 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder engine.
Though local pricing has yet to be released (the company says “further details about the SA version of Urban Cruiser Taisor will be made closer to launch timing”), it’s all but certain the new model will slot in at the foot of Toyota’s local crossover line-up, below the likewise Indian-manufactured Urban Cruiser (which now starts at R342 500).
That would, of course, make it the Japanese firm’s most affordable crossover locally (for the record, the Fronx currently kicks off at R288 900, so we may well see the new Starlet Cross priced just above that). As such, it could turn out to be yet another significant Suzuki-built volume driver for Toyota SA Motors, potentially picking up where the old Urban Cruiser left off…
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