5 minivans that tried to end the dominance of Toyota Innova but failed: from the Chevrolet Tavera to the Tata Aria

The Toyota Innova has written a new chapter in Indian mobility history after its launch in 2005, it has made MPVs a popular choice among families who wish to travel in comfort due to its reliability and modern design. A successor of Toyota Qualis, the Innova had big shoes to fill and it did this and more beating out various competitors for nearly two decades and holding the top spot in the segment. Here’s a look at Innova’s previous and existing competitors that haven’t been able to take the crown from the popular MPV.

Chevrolet Tavera:
The Chevrolet Tavera was a year older than the Innova, as it made its debut in India in 2004. It came with a 2.5-litre direct injection turbo diesel engine, producing 79bhp and 176Nm of torque. One of the Tavera’s distinguishing features was the option of a 10-seat configuration. At that time, Tavera was priced between Rs 5.44 lakh to Rs 8.45 lakh.

On the other hand, the Innova had a 2.4-litre diesel engine and a 2.0-litre petrol engine on offer. The diesel had more power as it produced 100bhp and 200Nm of torque. The Toyota had been launched at a price tag of Rs 6.83 lakh to Rs 10.91 lakh, a premium buyers were willing to pay for the MPV. The Innova quickly grew in popularity and by 2014 the Tavera had been discontinued.
Mahindra Xilo:
With MPV market share growing exponentially year on year, Mahindra introduced its first entry into the segment called Xylo, in 2009. It offered two diesel engine options, a 2.1 liter and a 2.4 liter and has even offered captain’s seats in the middle row. However, Xylo’s extravagant design has been polarizing for many buyers.

It was priced below the Innova, between Rs 6.62 lakh and Rs 9.62 lakh and even at that price it was unable to make a dent in Toyota’s demand. However, the Xylo has received steady demand from commercial buyers and was in production until 2019.
Nanny Aria:
A year later, in 2010, Tata Motors entered the MPV arena with the Aria. The automaker has left no stone unturned in its bid to corner the market. The Aria featured several segment-first features such as reverse parking camera, GPS navigation, steering wheel controls, cruise control and much more. It was fitted with Tata’s 2.2-litre DiCOR turbodiesel engine which produced 147bhp and 320Nm of torque.

On paper the Aria beat out the Innova, however, reports of inferior build quality and ride comfort along with recurring issues and problems plagued this MPV. This took away from the Aria and reinforced the idea that Toyota was a more reliable MPV. In 2012, Toyota gave the Innova a mid-life facelift and from May 2016 the Innova Crystal it had been launched in the Indian market.
With Crysta, Innova had made its transition into a premium people carrier. Priced between Rs 13.84 lakh to Rs 20.78 lakh, the Crysta initially raised eyebrows, but didn’t appear to have any long-term impact on the MPV’s popularity or demand.
Nanny Hexa:
After the Aria, Tata made another attempt in the segment with the Hexa MPV in 2017. The Hexa was once again a well-endowed competitor to the Innova. It was premium, powerful, and packed with features like automatic climate control, terrain modes, automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive. It also came with Tata’s Varicor 400 diesel engine producing a whopping 400Nm of torque. However, it failed to capture the imagination of the Indian public on a scale that would be comparable to the Innova.

In 2020, Tata Motors discontinued the Hexa, after a short three-year production run.
Mahindra Marazzo:
Just like Tata, Mahindra also made a second attempt in the minivan segment in 2018 by introducing the Marazzo minivan. The Marazzo was a well-proportioned people mover that was designed by the Italian firm Pininfarina, which was owned by Mahindra at the time. It received a 4-star safety rating from Global-NCAP and had a starting price tag of Rs 13.4 lakh.

However, he was never really able to pose a serious threat to the Toyota Innova. At the time, the Innova was a recognized product across the nation and had become the people carrier of choice for families, fleet operators and even political parties. Her reputation succeeded his name.
On November 25, Toyota launched the next chapter in the Innova journey. Now it has become more like an SUV and even more luxurious. With carbon neutrality goals in mind, there are no diesel engines on offer. However, the powerful Innova Hycross hybrid produces 181bhp of combined power and has a claimed fuel consumption of 21.1kmpl.

Which vehicle do you think will give the Innova HyCross some tough competition in 2022? Let us know in the comment.