With European-esque styling going for it, the Hyryder looks even more handsome in darker shades. Catching attention is it’s the sleek-split headlamp design while the rest of the fascia is also fresh to the eyes and looks appeasing, if not too flashy or too poignant. In profile, the contrast roof adds a necessary character to the silhouette, which otherwise looks quite plane-jane in single-tone.

Highlighting its hybrid nature on the inside is a ‘blue’-finished start/stop button. There’s an all-digital instrument cluster here which gives out loads of information, but we’d have preferred slightly better graphics/interface as this one starts to look boring after a while. Next up, with the nine-inch touchscreen unit stacked atop you get the newest interface from Maruti. It inherently wears a dark theme, which would be preferable to those who run similar dark themes on their phones.

While the seats are large and supportive, the seat base could have been wider. But the backrest holds you snugly and there’s also good support lower down the neck. Add to it the ventilated seat function, which comes as a relief in our scorching summers. Moving to the back, there’s ample leg space, thanks to the long wheelbase, but the headroom here is surely compromised.

To keep up with the competition, there’s an overflowing feature list here. You get an LED for the projector, DRLs, and tail lamps, 17-inch dual-tone wheels, and a panoramic sunroof. Adding to creature comfort is a nine-inch floating touchscreen with wireless smartphone connectivity, cooled front seats, auto AC, ambient lighting, cruise control, auto headlamps, wireless charger, a 360-degree camera, heads-up display, auto-dimming IRVM, and Toyota’s i-Connect connected car tech.

What we have here is a 1.5-litre petrol engine that comes from Toyota’s stable. On its own, the three-cylinder has an output of 91bhp/122Nm. Then, an electric motor is added which puts out 59kW/141bhp fed from a separate lithium-ion battery pack. This ‘strong’ hybrid will always start in the EV mode and will crank up the engine when the battery is drained. That said, at any speed under lighter loads and throttle inputs, the system is capable of running on battery power alone. So, keep a light right foot and you’d rarely hear the three-cylinder waking up from its slumber.

At the end of our tested fuel-efficiency run, the Hyryder Hyrbid returned a mileage of 17.7kmpl in the city and an even more impressive 27.38kmpl on the highway. A bigger battery size could have improved the city mileage further. On the other hand, out on the highway, the battery was being continuously charged and in turn, it shut off the engine regularly when cruising. With a realistic overall mileage of just over 20kmpl and a fuel tank capacity of 45 litres, a realistic range of around 900 kilometres can be expected between tankfuls.

Toyota has managed a well-rounded package with the Urban Cruiser Hyryder. It looks fresh and at the same time, the cabin is laden with features. There’s no complaining about its ergonomics along with space and practicality. Behind the wheel, the Hyryder hybrid is comfortable to drive and adequately does the job of being a well-rounded family SUV. Lastly, backing up the Hyryder is Toyota’s reliability and aftersales service. It doesn’t offer a diesel engine alternative though, which might be off-putting to some buyers. But it has the potential of grabbing a large slice of the C-SUV segment, if not the entire pie.