About Toyota Urban Cruiser
The 2009 Toyota Urban Cruiser was a crossover car based on a kei-car built for the Japanese market, a car that was built on the Toyota Yaris platform. The result was a 4-door vehicle mostly for city use.
The re-use of a platform was common for most car manufacturers. While some vehicles were built on a successful base, other car-manufacturers decided to build a platform to be used for a range of vehicles. The Toyota Yaris platform was, initially, built only for the Yaris and its derivative Yaris Verso MPV. But someone from the Toyota HQ thought that the same base might be used for better reasons. And the Urban Cruiser was born.
The car styling was a mix between the Yaris and the Rav4 SUV. With tall front fascia, a flat rear liftgate, and almost straight-up side panels, the Urban Cruiser took the market by surprise. It was a rugged off-road inspiration transferred into the small-vehicle segment. But the sales showed that the customers were not that much impressed.
Inside, there was room for five passengers, but the one in the middle seat on the rear bench didn't have enough legroom due to the transmission tunnel. The car was available in both FWD or AWD versions, with an electronically controlled front/rear torque distribution from 100:0 to 50:50.