Team-BHP - Toyota Innova Hycross Review

I am trying to understand the train of logic behind the pricing decisions of Toyota with respect to the HyCross.

My strong belief is that Toyota wanted to land the car at a target price of 35 lakhs OTR for the top-end ZX(O) and 29 lakhs for the mid level (VX) hybrid. We know both Toyota and Maruti have been lobbying for GST rate reductions for Hybrids. If this had been successful and they were able to get a 20-25% effective GST rate, (instead of the 48% we pay today for such vehicles), that would have translated to 23.3 - 24.1 lakhs revenue realisation net of GST to Toyota, instead of a realisation of 19.6 lakhs today with the 48% GST rate.

If they had insisted on keeping about 23.5 lakhs net revenue realisation, with the current 48% GST rate, Toyota would have to had to price the top end Hycross at 34.8 lakhs ex-showroom translating to 42 lakhs OTR :Shockked: Such a move would have really affected sales of the Hycross and made it uncompetitive against the likes of Kodiaq and Toyota 's own Fortuner. So they may have decided to sacrifice margins to keep the car in the sweet spot from a pricing perspective to generate sustained volumes. By this logic, even if the GST rate on hybrids is reduced in the future, Toyota may not change the ex-showroom price much.

The narrow diffence in price between the ZX and ZX(O) is clearly to promote the ADAS features and differentiate from other similar cars such as th Tata Safari which does not have this feature. Also the tech enables Toyota to bring their customers closer to autonomous driving which will become more prevalent in various degrees in the future.

If anyone had a line of thought on why bench seater hybrid VX only has 2 airbags and bucket seat ZX varients have 6 airbags, I would like to know.
As per Toyota logic, people who prefer 8 seater are not inclined towards safety of passengers compared to 7 seater?

VX needs 6 airbags and ZX needs bench seat options. Cost wise there is a marginal difference of Rs. 5000 so why not provide?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venkatesh (Post 5465586)

Innova Hycross

Attachment 2396350

Hitting the ball out of the park.

This is what comes to my mind when I view Hybrid prices. It starts where all ends. lol: (XUV7OO AWD does not count as Hycross does not have one)

Reasonable pricing? Only as per Toyota. They will always price their products with extra Toyota premium. Same was the case in previous gen products. In case of Toyota India, price of car drives the aspirational value rather than premium quality. End of rant. :)

Everyone was expecting a much higher price than announced and that might be the reason many feel the pricing low. But compared to the other option / options available in the market, I feel that Hycross is still pricier than any other MPV's / SUV's in the segment.

Its really sad to see brand like Toyota ignoring safety of its customers (2 Airbags?) and brand like KIA has 6 airbags as standard.

XUV still seems to be value for money, with all the features quite comparable to Hycross, and also XUV offers more safety features in the lower variants than Hycross.

Price Comparison of Crysta / XUV / Hycross:-

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolmel (Post 5465822)

5L is NOT a difference. Add extended warranty and other upgradeable goodies it results into 40L only. I will repeat. 5L is not a difference. I would consider it if it were 10L or round about.

It's not a competition brother, a fact is a fact, rest is upto you if you personally consider 5L as not a difference.

As per my opinion, biggest omission in GX is cruise control, They should have excluded allow wheels (can be fitted later) or push button start (I don't consider it as a feature), an should have provided simple cruise control as Hybrid only makes sense if someone has high usage, for many buyers looking for a big family car (may be an upgrade to Ertiga), petrol CVT is good option.

Can someone explain this to me: Toyota Innova Hycross G base variant will only be limited to the commercial market.

So with a fuel sipping petrol only motor, whom are they really targeting with the G variant ?

The typical taxi operator who used to own a fleet of Diesel Innova's will not even look at a Petrol(non-Hybrid) Hycross, given the rising costs of petrol and the expectedly single digit fuel efficiency figures.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon (Post 5465522)

I am trying to understand the train of logic behind the pricing decisions of Toyota with respect to the HyCross.

The cost of production is something I can think of with volumes that Toyota needs. BOF vehicles with rear drive will be more expensive to build over Monocoque front wheel driven, in my opinion.

Also, whenever a manufacturer is planning a newer model, it's not uncommon to increase the price of the outgoing a bit over time. They can always discount the older one if required. This ensures less of a shock to customers or unnecessary getting highlighted for the wrong reasons.

Now, everyone is feeling how sensibly Toyota has priced the HyCross :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heisenberg_ad (Post 5465491)

Exactly, i would still buy XUV, crysta or Hector plus over hycross. I like torquey motors.
Hybrids do come with 8 years of battery warrenty. In a pure EV, the users find it easier to find out if the battery health gets deteriorated. But in hybrids, the car will switch to petrol more often if the battery starts to drain early. .....would wait for long term reviews before jumping into hybrids.

Hybrids were not designed to save running costs but rather as a way to help achieve emission norms in other countries.

In fact a hybrid will be efficient upto about 40kmph when its running in EV mode. At higher/highway cruising speeds, it will just be running like a regular petrol car and the efficiency will be lower than what it achieves at lower speeds.

Although a hybrid gets a torque boost every now and then from the electric motor, drivability of a hybrid at higher speeds will be no match to a torquey diesel engine especially with a full load of passengers and luggage, especially on hilly roads/inclines. User feedback from other markets is that hybrids are rather boring to drive at speeds above 40kmph.

Innova hycross has the unique distinction of being the only car in the world costing 30 L INR, to have just 2 airbags.

The vehicle is close to 5m in length, it must have side curtain airbags from the base variant.

Wonder what Toyota India's management must've thought while sorting the variants.

To say it politely, this is absolute rubbish.

We talk about safety ratings, government policies mandating 6 airbags, but when a quality manufacturer willingly skips basic safety feature, we must point it out loudly.