TOYOTA Innova Models/Series Timeline, Specifications & Photos

Toyota introduced the Innova MPV on the South-Asian market in 2004, and after the first facelift that occurred in 2008, the Japanese automaker refreshed it again in 2011.

The market for seven-seat MPVs was big in many countries, and Toyota did want to get more customers from there. Thus, it made the Innova a family hauler. Strangely though, the Japanese brand made the vehicle on top of the same chassis as the HiLux pickup. Thus, it was sure to get more attention from its customers, who looked mostly for rugged vehicles that could cope better with unpaved roads and rough conditions. So the Innova was more of a crossover between an off-road utility vehicle and a minivan. In addition, it could carry a lot of stuff inside the cabin when the seats were removed.

Toyota's design team tried to make the vehicle look like a friendly, family sedan. So, instead of giving it a menacing front fascia, it made the headlights look like those installed on the Avensis. In addition, the front grille resembled the same sedan, not the one installed on the HiLux or the Fortuner. Innova's profile was clean, with regular front-hinged doors and wide windows. At the back, it sported clear-lense taillights and a tailgate that opened all the way to the bumper for easier loading and unloading.

Depending on the options, the Innova provided room for five or seven people, with two jump seats in the back. The dashboard looked very friendly and didn't resemble the one from the pickup. It featured a double-bubble design on the dashboard, with one covering the instrument cluster and the second above the center stack.

Under the hood, the automaker installed a choice of three engines, two with gasoline and a turbodiesel. However, unlike the HiLux and Fortuner, the Innova was available only with RWD.