Toyota Belta (re-badged Ciaz) is a reality after all
This continues the saga of Toyota selling aging re-badged Marutis in India. We have already seen the Glanza hatchback and the Urban Cruiser compact SUV.
However, the Belta case is more familiar to Glanza’s as it looks like a lazy badge replacement job with no design change vis-a-vis the Ciaz. To make matters worse, the Ciaz is already a 7-year-old model that desperately needs a replacement.
Anyway, the car you see in the spy pic is painted in a colour close to the Ciaz’s Pearl Sangria Red hue and has a restyled radiator grille with the Toyota symbol in the centre. The Toyota Belta is expected to come with different alloy wheels. Other than that, the C-segment sedan should remain unchanged.
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Stepping inside, all Maruti logos should be replaced with Toyota emblems, and the seats should be upholstered differently. The Ciaz and Belta, on the other hand, are expected to have the same set of equipment.
The 1.5-litre petrol engine with mild-hybrid tech will power the Toyota Belta. The engine will produce 103 horsepower and 138Nm of torque, the same as the Ciaz, and will be paired to either a 5-speed manual or an ancient 4-speed automatic transmission.
Dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, ESP with hill hold assist (automatic models only), ISOFIX mounts, and a reverse camera with rear parking sensors should all be included in the car’s safety features.
Belta’s introduction should also mark the end of the road for the Toyota Yaris, which has been a flop from day one. However, with Toyota’s lazy badge engineering, we doubt that the new sedan will find many takers either.