The Toyota Rumion might look like a mini Innova, but it’s really a rebadged Suzuki Ertiga
CY Foong · Oct 12, 2021 12:00 PM
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Suzuki is such a huge hit in India that Toyota is banking on a few rebadged models to entice buyers in the subcontinent. However, its latest rebadged Suzuki made its debut in South Africa instead.
The Toyota Rumion is the third rebadged Suzuki model currently on sale as a Toyota after the Toyota Glanza/Starlet (Suzuki Baleno) and the Toyota Urban Cruiser (Suzuki Vitara Brezza). The Rumion is based on the Suzuki Ertiga which makes the Japanese giant the third company to rebadge the MPV after Mazda and Proton.
The Rumion name itself, much like the aforementioned rebadges, is taken from an older Toyota model. The name was last used on the bigger brother of the quirky Toyota bB and was sold from 2007 to 2015.
In this colour, which is called Seal Grey Metallic, the Rumion does have a bit of the facelifted first-gen Innova's resemblance but make no mistake, it's no Toyota.
Apart from the Toyota badges and the name change, the Rumion is essentially a second-gen Suzuki Ertiga underneath. It is assembled at Maruti Suzuki’s plant in Gurgaon, India and the specs are essentially similar.
Powered by the same 1.5-litre Suzuki-sourced petrol engine that churns out 105 PS and 138 Nm, there are 5 variants of the Toyota Rumion available in the Rainbow Nation. Buyers can choose between a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission depending on the variant.
Though some features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity are only available on the highest variants of the Rumion, standard across the range is Toyota Connect – Toyota South Africa’s in-car Wi-Fi service.
In terms of safety, it is as basic as you can get. Standard on all variants of the Rumion are 2 front airbags, ISOFIX, ABS, and EBD. Aside from the base S variant, the Rumion comes with reverse sensors with a reversing camera only available on the top-of-the-line TX.
Prices for the Toyota Rumion starts from ZAR 245,600 (~RM 68,000) which is ZAR 6,200 (~RM 880) more than the Suzuki Ertiga which is also available in South Africa. That being said, there are more than 200 Toyota dealers in the country compared to only 75 Suzuki dealers, so it’s a matter of which is more convenient.
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The next Suzuki model to receive the Toyota logo will be the Ciaz which will be called the Toyota Belta and is set to replace the slow-selling Yaris (Toyota Vios) in India.
Traded advertising for a career that fits his passion for cars. Enjoys spotting cars during his free time and has a soft spot for Japanese Kei cars but drives a thirsty manual sedan.
