The Toyota Raize, the Future Flagship Subcompact Crossover Spotted in the Philippines

    The subcompact crossover segment, making its first mark in the early 2010's, has gone off to become one of the most produced and sold classes in the modern world, and now a new contender has entered the market. With its boxy RAV4-like styling, turbocharged engine, and balance of size and space within, the Toyota Raize could be the next flagship vehicle of the growing larger-than-ever segment.


    The Toyota Raize began as a rebadged version of the new Daihatsu Rocky. Once in the Philippine domestic market back in the 80's as the Daihatsu Feroza, the Raize began its production once again in 2019. Offered between the prices of ₱700,000 and ₱1 million, the Raize competes with the Kia Stonic, the Honda HR-V and the Hyundai Venue. While its price may sit it in the middle of its rivals, its zippy engine and abundance of features, unlike many vehicles sold in the Philippines, gives it confidence that it will catapult to the  forefront of the subcompact crossover market.


    Since the Raize is a rebadged model, it is built on the Daihatsu New Global Architecture platform, Daihatsu's platform for its smaller-sized cars such as the Toyota Avanza and its numerous amount of kei cars made for the Japanese market, thus giving its origin for its rugged looks and sharp edges, much like the newly released Avanza.


    With the Raize seen here, its power originates from its turbocharged 1.0L engine, giving it a maximum 97 brake horsepower and 140 Nm of torque. Fitted with a CVT transmission, it does a generous 42 MPG or 17.9 km/l, thus providing a small idea on how much mileage on such a small car you can get with only about ₱2,000 worth of gas.


    While it may measure only 158 inches in length, its trunk fits a large 22,500 cubic inch of space, enough to fit your luggage and even your shih tzu without any lingering worries. And inside, loaded with features just like its 7 inch driver display, infotainment system compatible with both Android and Apple, to the outside with its LED headlights and 5-star crash test ratings, it simply just begs to be the best crossover it can be.


    Nowadays, the Raize in numbers have started to slowly grow, with it slowly becoming a common sight on the road from Quezon City to Manila. Here's to its hopes that soon, it will become the next big Toyota.

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