Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder review, road test

The fresh and futuristic-looking Hyryder comes across as a well-packaged midsize SUV. Sure, it’s not as well-rounded as the Hyundai Creta and what could be a downer for some is the Toyota’s cabin and boot space, which isn’t as good as rivals. The mild-hybrid’s performance is adequate, at best. But its smartly dressed interior ups its appeal as does its generous equipment list. The rugged chassis exudes a sense of toughness, it balances ride comfort and handling well, and its tall ground clearance instils confidence while tackling bad roads.

And then, the ace up its sleeve is its hybrid powertrain. It delivers staggering fuel efficiency – more than standard internal combustion engines – and its electric-like instantaneous responses make it a good performer. Buyers will have to cough up a rather steep premium of Rs 1.90 lakh over the mild-hybrid (auto) version, placing it above its turbo-petrol Korean rivals. So expensive, yes, but when has that stopped a Toyota from finding plenty of takers. And with Toyota’s reputation for reliability, the Hyryder has pretty much all it needs to grab a sizable share of the midsize segment pie.