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Toyota Kluger Hybrid confirmed for Australia

The new Toyota Kluger Hybrid has been confirmed for Australia and is due in local showrooms in early 2021.


Toyota today confirmed that both the Toyota Kluger V6 and Toyota Kluger Hybrid four-cylinder would be sold alongside each other in Australia for the first time.

Although there have been hybrid versions of previous generation Toyota Kluger models, they have not been offered locally.

The new Toyota Kluger V6 and Hybrid four-cylinder models will arrive in Australia more than a year after they went on sale in the US.

The delayed roll-out was due to the staggered engineering work for right-hand-drive models, scheduled to occur after the new Toyota Kluger went on sale in North America, where it is manufactured.

 

Drive

Today’s confirmation that the Toyota Kluger Hybrid is coming to Australia coincides with an announcement that the petrol-electric model will be sold in Europe for the first time, from next year.

While Toyota says it is too early to speculate on price, Drive believes the new Kluger range will come with a big premium compared to the current model – which starts from $41,990 drive-away – due to the extra tech and worsening exchange rate with the US where the vehicle is made.

The new Kluger will be the first hybrid-powered seven-seat SUV for Toyota Australia.

The new Kluger will continue to expand Toyota Australia’s hybrid line-up, which currently accounts for more than one in every five cars it sells locally.

 

Drive

As reported earlier, the new Toyota Kluger will have a choice of a 2.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid power or a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine.

The new Toyota Kluger’s total hybrid system power output is expected to be 179kW when it arrives in Australia, with drive delivered via one petrol engine and two electric motors (one front and one rear).

Fuel consumption figures for the Toyota Kluger Hybrid have not yet been disclosed for the Australian model, however the US version consumes an average of 6.7L/100km according to North American fuel economy tests.

The new quad-cam V6 is expected to deliver 218kW via an eight-speed automatic transmission and a choice of front-drive and all-wheel-drive.

A statement from Toyota Australia said the new Kluger will be equipped with advanced safety technology “to help prevent or mitigate collisions across a wide range of traffic situations”. Photos show it will also come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring technology.

The 2021 Toyota Kluger is based on the company’s next generation global architecture which, the company says, “allowed designers to craft a longer, more distinctive body that delivers a more flexible interior with expanded cargo space”.

Drive
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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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