The Maruti-Suzuki and Toyota alliance has been going on for quite a while in India. The alliance has given us cars like the Toyota Urban Cruiser( rebadged Suzuki Brezza) and the Toyota Glanza (rebadged Baleno). Toyota also launched the rebadged Maruti Suzuki Ertiga as the Rumion in the South African market. Now, Toyota has launched the Belta in the international market. The Belta is essentially a rebadged Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. The Belta will make its way to our shores by next year and it will fill the gap which was left by the now discontinued Yaris. Let’s take a look at the Belta:
Toyota Belta: Is it any different?
The Ciaz is one handsome-looking sedan primarily renowned for its no-nonsense character and a spacious cabin. The exterior of the Belta recieves no changes whatsoever when compared to the Ciaz. Toyota decided not to make any changes to the exterior of the Belta as opposed to the Urban Cruiser which recieved a few minor tweaks to differentiate it from the Vitara Brezza. The Belta gets a slim grille with chrome accents on the top and bottom.
The car features headlights with LED projectors and LED Daytime Running Light which adds aggression to the front face. The Belta comes with 16-inch alloy wheels which are similar to the Ciaz. The interiors also remain unchanged and it gets the same dual-tone biege and black interiors. The boot space also remains unchanged at 510 litres. In terms of features it gets a touchscreen infotainment system, automatic climate control, electrically folding mirrors.
The instrument panel gets a colour TFT display which displays a whole lot of information including a G-force meter, a real time power and torque meter, average fuel efficiency, etc. The Belta is powered by a 1.5-liter mild-hybrid petrol engine that belts out a maximum power output of 103 bhp and 138 Nm of peak torque.
As far as transmission options go, Toyota offers only a 4-speed torque converter automatic transmission in the international market. However, one can expect Toyota to offer the option of a 5-speed manual transmission as well it goes on sale in India.