Re: Toyota Etios Liva diesel to be launched before Etios diesel Quote:
Originally Posted by mayank10 Regarding your first question, I bought the Liva (you can kill me for that) because it just made more sense to me. It is obvious that Etios family is not at all having tough time in the market and each expert's review verifies this (Please check the MOD's review as well). Etios is already the segment leader, so we can assume that how well would the diesel variant be welcomed in the market.
Though, since the Jazz has reduced the prices, only the top end petrol variants of Liva would suffer IMHO. But so will happen with top variants of Swift, Fabia, Polo, i20, etc.
Liva has one of the best in class interior space and one of the best paint quality. The only department it lacks is the interior finish, which can be spruced up to an extent. I don't expect a car to look like a cockpit, and so do 90% of the people in this country. Handling and suspension are great and none of the people who drove my Liva complained about NVH, i am not sure about Etios though.
To add on to it, Liva comes with safety features with middle variants also (G+ onward) That is an exception in this segment (Jazz IMO is a segment higher, and Swift has all these features in top end only) Middle variants of Liva are 5-5.5 lakhs OTR in Kerala (G and G+ respectively). So almost 1 lakh difference with Jazz OTR (base version).
IMO, for people with budget of approx 5 lakhs, Liva is a good car. It is a T afterall.
Last but not the least, i just love the Jazz as well. I just can't own it. |
Great point.
It is a T after all, and that rings several 'sensible-bells' for several people. And now a Toyota at 5 lakhs is a dream-come-true for many people aspiring for a T. However, I'd like to say that toyota could have done a better job with the Etios and the Liva. Better interiors would have been appreciated, and flimsy bits could have been replaced with something that is sturdy.
I mean, it doesn't have to scream 'quality', even though Toyota does so, in their slightly-misleading advertisements on the telly and the papers. I'm sure people would have been ready to shell out an extra 50k, if the quality was good. Quote:
Originally Posted by fuel_addict You are right. One would buy the Jazz only if he was looking for a petrol hatch. The Liva/Etios diesel variants should do very well IMO. The mid variant of the Liva in Diesel should cost around the same OTR as the Jazz. Makes sense for someone interested in a diesel hatch assuming he can live with the average interiors of the Liva.
I TD'ed the Liva recently and found it pretty good. Low end response was much better than the Jazz. Its a city car after all and all that low end torque does help. No, I may never buy the Liva because of the centre mounted instrument cluster. But for someone looking for a diesel hatch, the Liva isn't a bad proposition. Its a proper 5 seater and has decent boot space. The VX Liva in Diesel maybe priced close to 8L OTR and yet not have ACC, MID, etc. So I don't think the top variants (V, VX) will sell much. The G with SP makes most sense.
With the problems at Maruti's Manesar plant, who knows, the Liva Diesel might do better than the Swift in the initial few months. Only time will tell. |
Precisely.
I don't see the petrol Etios-Liva doing as well as its diesel counterpart would. Look at the sales of the petrol and diesel i20 and compare them, you'll know what I mean.
The top-end diesel Liva @ 8 lakhs is a bit much, when you get other cars like the Polo, Punto and the Fabia at that price, with more features (Punto in particular). So my guess is that the low-mid variants of the diesel Liva are the variants that will get Toyota's cash-registers ringing. Quote:
Originally Posted by AmarPaithankar In our country, BRAND is more important than the product.
This is the sole reason why certain manufacturers from Germany manage to sell their inferior products at a premium and that too in respectable volumes.
More than anything else, the Liva has a prominent "T" badge upfront and the infamous "D-4D" logo on either of the front fenders or the hatch. These are more than sufficient for the Liva to sell in volumes, quality, service, etc notwithstanding.
Had it been the other way, i.e. had we Indians appreciated the product over the brand, the Tata Nano would have broken all sales records. |
Nail. On. Head.
Brand is a vital thing in India. People are brand-conscious.
But in this case, it might work against Toyota's favour. You see, the new Swift is an established brand in India, and Maruti-Suzuki are renowned for their after-sales-service and image. In fact, the Swift is a brand by itself now, in India. Much like how the iconic 800 was, and still is. People went to the extent of saying that the Swift was/is India's next breakthrough car, the next 800, and in many ways, it was.
So when one talks about brand, the Swift makes a strong case for itself in our market. It's a much-loved car. So Toyota will find the going tough, and won't be able to rely on their brand, alone!
Last edited by GTO : 30th August 2011 at 16:08.
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