Toyota recently revived the Urban Cruiser model name and now the brand is also pulling the Starlet model name from the mothballs. As was the case with the Urban Cruiser, the Starlet is also less Toyota than you might think.
Recently, Toyota in India presented a new Urban Cruiser to consumers, in fact a Suzuki Vitara Brezza over which Toyota has scattered its own spice mix. With the reuse of the Urban Cruiser model name, a model name returned that Toyota had not used worldwide since 2016. Today an even more famous model name returns: Starlet.
Model name Starlet was used for the first time from 1973 for a more compact model that got a place below the Corolla. In 1978 a Starlet appeared on the Dutch market for the first time. Toyota put an end to the Starlet in 1999 and decided to designate the successor of the last, fifth generation as ‘Yaris’ (Vitz). After 21 years, Toyota sticks the still familiar name on a five-door hatchback of which in fact little or nothing is Toyota. The new Starlet is nothing more than a Suzuki Baleno with Toyota logos. That is striking. In India, Toyota sells a Suzuki Baleno with its own logos that it has christened Glanza. Also a model name that was not used for years before.
The Starlet that Toyota has now presented will be sold in dozens of African countries, but differs in one important respect from its Indian Glanza brother. Where the Glanza has a 90 hp 1.2 as was available in the Baleno, which was available in the Netherlands until recently, the Starlet has a 92 hp 1.4 under the hood. This is optionally linked to a manual five-speed gearbox or an automatic transmission with four gears. This 1.4 is a Suzuki engine that is available in the Baleno in various markets outside Europe and India.
The Starlet is only the fourth model that Toyota Tsusho, responsible for the delivery of Toyotas in Africa, will deliver in Africa. In addition to the Starlet, the company also has the Land Cruiser 200, Hilux and Hiace on its menu. The company says it wants to work more closely with Suzuki in the future. In addition, Toyota Tsusho promises an extensive range of models in the long term, from SUVs to sedans. Incidentally, Suzuki in turn will soon sell a model that comes from Toyota: the Across. That SUV based on the Toyota RAV4 is coming to the Netherlands.