Toyota to launch Avanza, Veloz in Thailand on Feb 24

Last month, our friends over at headlightmag.com shared that the all-new Toyota Avanza will be launched in Thailand this February. This means that after making its global debut in Indonesia a few months ago, The Land of Smiles will be the second country to receive Toyota’s latest generation MPV.

Fast forward to the present and Toyota has revealed a launch date in Thailand, February 24. But while we originally mentioned it was only the Avanza that will be unveiled, the Veloz will also be revealed in Thailand. Toyota Motor Thailand confirmed this after releasing a teaser image of the upcoming MPV.

Unlike the Avanza, the Veloz is now its own model and sports a unique exterior and interior design. Official specs and features have yet to be revealed. But more than likely, the Thai-spec Veloz will be similar to the Indonesian-spec version. With that, we can expect the MPV to get a honeycomb-like front grille, LED headlights, L-shaped foglight bezels, 17-inch alloy wheels (16-inch alloys on lesser variants), full-width LED taillights, and power-folding side mirrors with puddle lamps.

Like the exterior, the cabin of the Veloz is different from your regular Avanza. It has a two-tone black and white finish, fabric-leather upholstery, and LED ambient lighting. Also available inside the Veloz is a 9-inch infotainment touchscreen, wireless charging for smartphones, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a 7-inch digital instrument panel, automatic climate control, and an engine start/stop button.

Unlike the Avanza which is available with two engine options, the Veloz is only available with only one motor, a 1.5-liter naturally-aspirated inline-four with Dual VVT-i. It puts out 106 PS with 137 Nm of torque. Transmission options include a five-speed manual and a new CVT that replaces the previous four-speed automatic.

On top-of-the-line variants, the Veloz is available with Toyota Safety Sense as standard. This gives the MPV intelligent safety features such as a pre-collision system, front departure alert, pedal misapplication control, lane departure assist, rear crossing traffic alert, and blind-spot monitoring.

With its launch in Thailand just a few weeks away, when will Toyota Motor Philippines actually reveal the MPV here? According to an insider, the Avanza will be launched sometime in March 2022. We're keeping our fingers crossed TMP will also bring in the Veloz.