Starting with the Vitz, Toyota plans to give SA cheaper cars

Toyota is planning on offering South African motorists with a lot more affordable options in 2023, starting with the Vitz.

This little A-segment hatchback, which will be built alongside the Suzuki Celerio in India, will replace the Toyota Agya as the Japanese carmaker’s most affordable local car from as early as April. The Agya, which is the production twin of the Daihatsu Ayla, will be discontinued locally when the Vitz arrives.

Toyota and Suzuki alliance

The Vitz and Celerio are one of many examples in the production alliance between Toyota and Suzuki. The others offered in South Africa are the Vitara Brezza and Toyota Urban Cruiser, the Suzuki Baleno and the Toyota Starlet and the Suzuki Ertiga and the Toyota Rumion.

The Toyota Vitz will be based on the latest version of the Celerio that was made its local debut early in 2022. It rides on Suzuki’s Heartec platform and is powered by the K10C DuelJet 1.0-litre naturally aspirated engine.

The three-pot mill produces 49 kW of power and 89 Nm of torque. In automated manual guise, the Celerio is claimed to sip only 4.2 litres per 100 km.

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Aggressive approach

“The Vitz will slot in just below the Starlet and will obviously replace the Agya. Customer can expect to see it on showroom floors in the second quarter of this year,” says Leon Theron, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM).

“It shows that we are very aggressive in the A-segment. We want to be more aggressive in the A-segment in order to grow out small car strategy and that is the reason for Vitz.”

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At a price of R200 000, the base model Agya is currently the cheapest Toyota in South Africa. The Vitz range is expected to start at below that number, weeing that the entry-level Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GA is priced at R178 900.

Toyota sold 5 798 units of the Agya, that replaced the Aygo in 2019, in 2022 to grab a market share of 11% in this segment.

TSAM will announce pricing and the model line-up of the Vitz closer to the launch date.