Not many people know the meaning of the name Toyota Kijang. Not surprisingly, news about the meaning of the name Toyota Kijang became the most popular throughout November 2022.
Toyota Kijang is one of the legendary cars in Indonesia. Present on the Indonesian car market for decades, the Kijang still exists and is even able to compete with its rivals. But did you know that the name Kijang in the Toyota MPV is not an animal? The name Kijang is actually an acronym for Indonesia-Japan Cooperation.
“The name ‘Kijang’ is an abbreviation of the phrase ‘Indonesia-Japan cooperation. Toyota Kijang came about because the New Order government led by President Soeharto issued the ‘Multipurpose Commercial Motor Vehicles’ (KNBS) program at the beginning of the 1970,” said an explanation on the Indonesian Motorized Vehicles Industry Association website quoted detikOto.
In Toyota Global’s official website, there are four values that are at the core of the development of the Kijang. The first is to contribute to the socio-economic development of Indonesia. The second is to open jobs with local assembly and also increase the use of local components by increasing the level of Indonesian industrial technology.
Kijang also comes to present an economic and functional as well as multifunctional means of transport. In this way, Kijang can appeal to a wider range of consumers.
Toyota Kijang was initially intended to sell 200 units a month. However, now Kijang’s sales can reach thousands of units every month in line with the presented transformation. While first paving, Kijang was priced at IDR 1.3 million.
In its development, the Toyota Kijang has in fact undergone a series of transformations from a commercial vehicle to a family vehicle, with the concept of Multi Purpose Vehicle or MPV. The Toyota Kijang name has also received the additional name “Innova” since 2004.
Retracing its history, the Toyota Kijang Innova has been present in Indonesia for six generations under various public names. They started from Kijang ‘Crocodile’ (1977-1981), Kijang ‘Doyok’ (1981-1986), Kijang Super (1986-1996), Kijang ‘Kapsul’ (1986-2004), then Kijang Innova (2004-2015), at Kijang Innova Reborn (2015-present). More recently, Toyota introduced the Kijang Innova Zenix with petrol and hybrid engines.
(Next: Don’t be surprised by the Kijang Innova Zenix battery price)
