Friday, November 18, 2011

Toyota WISH, Compact MPV produced by Japanese automaker Toyota since 2003

The Toyota WISH is a Compact MPV produced by Japanese automaker Toyota since 2003. It is available as a six and seven-seater, equipped with either a 1.8 or 2.0-litre gasoline engine. It is positioned below the Sienna and above the Verso in Toyota's minivan range.

Apart from Japan, the Wish is also assembled in Thailand (for Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore only) and Taiwan (for Taiwan only).

The Wish was developed under code name "760N" by the team, led by Chief engineer named Takeshi Yoshida and was introduced to the public for the first time at Tokyo Motor Show in October 2002 (Commercial vehicles & welcab show) and then launched in Japan in January,20th 2003, under a massive publicity campaign with Japanese singer Hikaru Utada. The TV commercial features her song Colors, which coincides with the launch of her new CD-single. The car was marketed under the "Wish Comes True" slogan.

Codenamed ZNE10G (FWD) and ZNE14G (4WD), it uses a 1.8 L 1ZZ-FE engine, producing (JIS) 132 PS and 170 N·m (125 lb·ft). It is only available with four-speed automatic. A 2.0 L version (codenamed ANE11W for the six-seater version and ANE10G for the seven-seater version) was launched in April 2003. Equipped with the 1AZ-FSE direct-injection engine, it has (JIS) 155 PS (114 kW) and 192 N·m (142 ft·lbf). Variants with the 2.0 D-4 engine are only available with a CVT gearbox.

The WISH was extremely successful in its home market, and is frequently seen on the Top 5 on the 30 bestseller list each months. It has also made shockwave to its competitors, such as the Honda Stream & Mazda Premacy or Mazda 5 to changing its market positioning.