The
subcompact MPV race will become a tight one sometime this year as
Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) has confirmed it is bringing in the
Toyota Rush.
TMP President
Satoru Suzuki himself made the revelation in his speech during the opening of the Japanese carmaker's Media Thanksgiving Party yesterday, February 13. Other than that, nothing else was said about the Rush's arrival in the Philippines though, if we had to make a guess, the
2018 Philippine International Motor Show would be the perfect venue to launch it.
Sharing the same platform as the
Daihatsu Terios, the Toyota Rush will go up against the
Suzuki Ertiga, the
Honda Mobilio and
Honda BR-V, and the latest contender in the subcompact MPV market: the
Mitsubishi Xpander. Considering that it's a
seven-seater, the Rush will also go up against a locally-popular stablemate: the
Toyota Avanza.
The Toyota Rush--at least for the Indonesia market where it is made and sold--is powered by a
1.5-liter 2NR-VE engine that it shares with the Avanza. Mated to it is either a
five-speed manual or
four-speed automatic transmission that produces
103 hp @ 6,000 rpm and
136 Nm of torque @ 4,200 rpm. Curiously, the Rush is being marketed in Indonesia as a
subcompact SUV despite its strictly
rear-wheel-drive powertrain, so it's very likely that when it reaches our shores, TMP will pit it against the similarly-packaged Honda BR-V.
As for its pricing, with an overall package that looks a lot better than the Avanza, we expect it to be priced at over P1.1 million at the very least.
Now that you know the Toyota Rush is coming soon, will you wait for it over its rivals or will you jump the gun and just buy what you want in the next couple of months?
