Toyota Shows Off Production iQ and Micro Urban Cruiser 4X4

Toyota is making good with its promise to launch a brand new micro-sized

Small is cool with the 3+1-seat Toyota iQ. (Photo: Toyota)

car. The iQ, which was first shown in Frankfurt, will officially make its production debut in Geneva. Visually, not much has changed between the concept and the road-ready model, and it will retain its unusual 3+1 seat layout. It will take the cake as the smallest four-seater car ever built, measuring under 118 inches - shorter than the wheelbase of a Chrysler 300. In fact, it’s a whole 30 inches shorter than the Yaris! It is, however, projected to be nearly as tall and wide as a Yaris.

Toyota hasn’t released any information about the power source for this new car, but it’s looking to feature a three-cylinder engine of sub-1.0-liter displacement with an idle-stop system.

The theme of smallness is also spilling over into Toyota’s other Geneva debut, a new

For the tough, unforgiving world that is the concrete jungle, there's the Urban Cruiser. (Photo: Toyota)

subcompact-sized crossover vehicle called the Urban Cruiser. What the Land Cruiser is to the wilderness, the Urban Cruiser will be to downtown cores and congested areas.

The Urban Cruiser is based off the same platform and actually shares much of its appearance with the Toyota ist and its North American cousin, the Scion xD, although it sits higher up for more ground clearance.

The Urban Cruiser will be powered by a small, 1.5-liter inline-four engine that makes 109 horsepower, very similar to what’s featured in our Yaris liftback. However, the transmission lineup is different, featuring a CVT instead of an automatic. The Urban Cruiser comes standard with front wheel drive, although four wheel drive is an option. That will make the little utility vehicle the smallest Toyota 4X4 ever built.

Where a pint-sized utility is a bit of an unknown here in the U.S., Toyota may watch to see how the micro-sized smart fortwo subcompact sells in our market, and bring the iQ to market here, and then take into consideration that something similar to the Scion xB might do well with a Toyota badge on its grille, and also offer the Urban Cruiser.