Ahead of Malaysia, 2022 Toyota Avanza to be launched in Thailand in February

The Toyota Avanza is the pride and joy for many Indonesians with the model rightfully reinstating its title as the archipelago’s King of the roads as the country’s best-seller in 2021. However, things are on the opposite end in pick-up-loving Thailand with the Avanza being a poor-seller there.

Despite that, Toyota Motor Thailand is planning to bring in the all-new Avanza into the Kingdom in February 2022, according to a report by Headlight Mag. The front-wheel-drive (FWD) Avanza will be imported from Indonesia much like the outgoing rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Avanza.

According to the Thai automotive website, it is uncertain whether the regular Avanza or the Veloz will be brought into the Kingdom. The Veloz is the more upmarket version of the Avanza with a different grille and a few additional trims.

Both the Avanza and Veloz are powered by a naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre 2NR-VE (106 PS/136 Nm) petrol unit that is carried over from the previous generation. That engine is hooked up to either a CVT gearbox or 5-speed manual in Indonesia but it’s likely that Thai buyers will only be offered the CVT option.

Also read: To stay ahead, the 2022 Toyota Avanza needs FWD and CVT

Unlike the previous generations of the Avanza, the all-new model is FWD as it sits on the more modern Daihatsu New Global Architecture (DNGA) platform.

While there is also a naturally-aspirated 1.3-litre 1NR-VE petrol engine (98 PS/121 Nm) on lower variants of the Avanza, it is likely that this engine won’t make it into Thailand.

Thai buyers don’t favour 7-seaters as much as Indo buyers and yet, Headlight Magazine has revealed that the Thai-spec Avanza/Veloz would be well-equipped. These include:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• LED headlights
• 9-inch touchscreen infotainment
• Wireless charger
• 360-degree camera

Also read: Mitsubishi Xpander accounts nearly 60% of 7-seaters sold in Thailand in Q1 2021

Safety-wise, the Thai-spec Avanza would come with 6 airbags and the Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) ADAS suite with an alphabet soup of features including:

• PCS (Pre-Collision System)
• LDA (Lane Departure Assist)
• FDA (Front Departure Alert)
• BSM (Blind Spot Monitoring)
• RCTA (Rear Cross-Traffic Alert)

The outgoing Avanza sold in Thailand is available with two variants – 1.5 E and 1.5 G. Both variants are powered by a 1.5-litre unit that is paired to a 4-speed automatic transmission. Prices for the Thai-spec Avanza starts from THB 649,000 (~RM 82k) so we could see the newer model to be slightly pricier.

It is also worth noting that the outgoing Thai-spec Avanza is based on the previous-gen Indonesian Avanza while the one currently in Malaysia looks similar to the previous Indo-spec Avanza Veloz.

Speaking of Malaysia, the all-new Avanza that we’ll be getting could be similar to the all-new Veloz but that won’t be the only model sold here. Recall that the next-gen Perodua Alza will be a twin model to the all-new Avanza and that could be launched by mid-2022.

Also read: Rumour: Slight delay for all-new 2022 Perodua Alza, and it's the Myvi's fault