In India, there has always been one big name missing from the hugely popular sub-4 metre SUV segment – Toyota. A potential contender to fill that void is what the Japanese have received today. What you see here is called the Raize SUV. It has been co-created by Toyota and its subsidiary Daihatsu. The latter, as car nutters will tell you, has catered well to developing markets around the globe. So, to put it all together, why can’t Toyota launch the Raize in India? Well, of course, it can!

If Toyota decides to shortlist the Raize for India, it will have to make several changes to make it a viable product. That said, we can surely get a taste of what it could be like from the Japanese version. Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way first. The Raize is the first product which is underpinned by the DNGA (Daihatsu New Global Architecture) platform. In terms of size, it measures 3,995mm in length, 1,695mm in width and 1,620mm in height. Other dimensions include a wheelbase stretching 2,525mm, 17-inch wheels, a 369-litre luggage area and a ground clearance of 185mm.

Toyota has decided to stick with just one engine-gearbox option for the Raize in its home turf. Under the bonnet is a 1.0-litre, turbo-petrol engine which puts out 97bhp/140Nm. As far as transmission duties are concerned, a CVT unit handles them. Apart from a front-wheel-drive setup, the Japanese also get the option of a four-wheel-drive Raize. With the former, Toyota claims a maximum mileage of 18.6kmpl, whereas in the latter it predictably comes down to 17.4kmpl.

The Raize comes packed with features inside and out. The list includes LED headlamps, dynamic turn indicators, a multifunction steering wheel, a 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and SmartDeviceLink and a non-analogue instrument cluster. The safety aspect is taken care off by stuff like adaptive cruise control, collision warning, crash avoidance braking and a Smart Panorama Parking Assist System, which provides voice and image guidance as well as steering assistance while, well, parking.

Pricing? In Japan, the Raise starts at an equivalent of Rs 10.9 lakh and goes all the way up to Rs 14.82 lakh. Compared to the current lot of sub-4 metre SUVs in India, the Raize is way too expensive. However, those figures can become a lot more appealing with a recipe explicitly tuned for India and high levels of localisation. Would you like to see Toyota enter the sub-4 metre SUV space with the Raize?