2nd-generation Toyota Innova, clearly deserved a chance on more international markets

Introduced in 2015 as a replacement to the previous generation released in 2004, the second generation of the Toyota Innova remained in production despite the release of a noticeably more modern successor in 2022. Still based on a more rugged body-on-frame layout with a longitudinal engine and rear-wheel drive, available with either 2.0L and 2.7L gasoline-powered engines or 2.4L and 2.8L turbodiesels, and targetting mostly to Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia or the Philippines and Vietnam, sharing most of its features and specifications with the Hilux and Fortuner, sure the Innova could've had a much broader worldwide presence, and it had been even available as a captive import in Argentina for a while, and quite surprisingly it was never made locally even though the Hilux and Fortuner are, so most of the conditions to make it worth the endeavour were already sorted out. Maybe some Brazilians would look at it and consider it "outdated" for the minivan silhouette, which to be honest tends to match my tastes more than some random SUVs which often may not be so much better regarding off-road capabilities...

Sure front-wheel drive and transverse engines would be supposed to make more sense in minivans, as they tend to be seen as too bland to be "funny", but the rear-wheel drive is still favored among some of the target-demographics of the Toyota Innova as it's still perceived by many as better suited to heavier tasks such as towing a trailer. Parts commonality with the Toyota Hilux may be even more appealing to buyers who consider the Hilux a benchmark for reliability under the harshest conditions, even though the Innova was never available with 4-wheel drive due to the higher taxation for nearly any vehicle with such feature in Indonesia which is still the biggest market for the Innova. In fact, nothing seems to make it technically impossible for Toyota to provide 4-wheel drive as an option to the Innova, which would be the only way to bring the turbodiesels to Brazil as the Innova has seating for fewer than 10 people and a payload smaller than one metric ton, and being so satisfying for my acquired taste for minivans...