Team-BHP - Toyota Etios & Liva now with Colombo Tan interiors

Finally Toyota has reacted to the major criticism of the ETIOS-twins, which was about the poor design, quality & feel of the Interiors of ETIOS sedan & Liva.

Now Toyota have introduced the Interiors of the ETIOS Liva in lighter shade of upholstery which is more of like a light & soft beige shade & is called as 'Colombo Tan' in the marketing terminology of Toyota India.

Toyota Etios & Liva now with Colombo Tan interiors-etios-liva-colombo-tan.jpg

(Pic source: The Times of India, Delhi edition, e-paper 03-09-12)

Door pads & central part of the dashboard is now light, soft beige in shade while seats now sport a better, light shaded similar shaded beige fabric instead of previous monotonous Black-Dark grey shades.

However, this change is restricted to middle & top end variants of the ETIOS Liva or i.e in G-SP or above(petrol) & only GD-SP(diesel) variants, while the lower variants are going to be served with same monotonous Black-dark grey upholstery.

So, lets see how much this much anticipated change can do for Toyota ETIOS Liva in India.

More spy pics & suggestions are welcomed.

At 8.11 lac on road in Bangalore for the petrol, I don't see any reason to even consider a Toyota Etios. Took a test drive of the petrol variant. The plastics are horrible and it makes a car like the Tata Vista feel from another planet in interior part quality

Pros
Excellent petrol engine
Roomy interiors
Nice steering
The best handling Toyota in the country

Cons
Looks
Horrible plastic quality
Poor sound insulation
Rough and noisy engine

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan (Post 2891846)

it makes a car like the Tata Vista feel from another planet in interior part quality

Ditto. Recently accompanied a friend of mine intent on buying a sedan and was very disappointed with the Etios. Its noisy, unrefined and downright cheap. And mind you, for the top model diesel the prices are also not that cheap either.

Our next stop was the Tata showroom and the MANZA felt much better. Far better refinement, vibration and noise suppression. Pretty peppy. Decent build quality - in fact there is some amount of heft in the way the Manza door shuts compared to the tinny clang of the ETIOS's doors!

No wonder Etios sales are lukewarm, and from what i hear nowadays, most ETIOS's are now being picked up by the cab segment.
Apparently the Petrol ETIOS's are hardly sellingl - and Toyota is encouraging CNG/LPG conversion of the same for cab fleet sales. Some Mumbai company called TabCab has also picked up a fair number at eye watering discounts !

Let's wait and watch whether Toyota's latest "Colombo Tan" fairness cream interiors make potential buyers' heart go "waaku - doki" :)

A company like Toyota have themselves to blame by gifting over sales to its rivals. Liva is really boring and unrefined compared to other competent cars such as Figo, Swift, Vista who are its direct competition.

Talking about the last two, Manza has been improving in build and refinement even from its earlier days and with the proven quadrajet (aka Fiat 1.3 diesel mill) it is a really a very competent package to choose.

The same can be said about Swift, the new facelifted version has much better interiors and ergonomics and improved exterior looks again with a workhorse of an engine wich surely makes it a compelling alternative to the Etios and by far a segment leader but only if it is available in sufficient numbers.

A welcome move. The dull black-grey interiors made this boring car even more boring. The beige shade would add some amount of appeal to the interiors and even make the car feel more roomier. Would it be enough to make the sales chart moving is something we have to wait and watch. I would have been happier if they improved slightly on those interiors without escalating the prices.

BTW I guess all petrol cars are struggling to sell. So why blame the effects of lopsidedness of the fuel pricing on the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arjab (Post 2891987)

Our next stop was the Tata showroom and the MANZA felt much better. Far better refinement, vibration and noise suppression

The Manza is in a different league beside the Etios. I have not traveled in one. Sitting inside it was enough to easily gauge the car. Everything feels better and on a personal take, I prefer the looks of the Manza any day.

Though Toyota is late in making these minor changes but still better late than never. But I seriously doubt whether this would really have any impact on the sales of the Liva. Toyota needs to improve the quality of the interiors by leaps and bound to make any real impact on the mind of the customers. The cost cutting is glaring in the Liva just like it's big brother, but while the etios is an entry level sedan, the liva is not an entry level hatch.

Thus Toyota needs to understand the customer ecpectations and change accordingly if they intent to boost their sales figure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sommos (Post 2892486)

Thus Toyota needs to understand the customer ecpectations and change accordingly if they intent to boost their sales figure.

+1 to that.
Toyota has begun to milk its customers more and more these days just because of the hype and customer base they have been able to create in India.

The Liva continues to be a heavily overpriced and insufficient car.

Don't anyone from you guys, think that Toyota Etios Liva needs more variants in its Diesel avatar, as currently its available in first 1.5 variants(1 is G-D & 0.5 is its Option G-D-SP) only.
It desperately needs V-D variant atleast, if its VX-D variant crosses the segment where Toyota wants to position it.