Team-BHP > The Indian Car Scene


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Old 13th April 2007, 21:54   #1
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Spotted - Daihatsu Sirion in Kolkata. Is this Toyotas small car for India?

Saw this Daihatsu Sirion in Kolkata today... was in a hurry so couldn't get more pics.


Dunno what this means though... does Toyota have any plans of launching the passo in India?

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/1599/dsc02960ov0.jpg
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5086/dsc02959zh3.jpg
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Old 13th April 2007, 23:05   #2
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This could be a finding far more important that it seems. Its no secret that Toyota's aiming at the B+ segment with vigor. They have been known to have considered various options from their stable including the Daihatsu Sirion -which would cost around Rs. INR 6.3 lakhs for the 1 L version. The latest version is that they are developing a car from scratch to meet pricing expectations.

This Sirion could mean any of the following:

1. A potential small car engine being road tested in the Sirion

2. Toyota seriously relooking at the Sirion due to reasons such as an extending new small car development time, or other cost-cuttings that aim to make the Sirion itself more affordable.

Nice to see signs that Toyota India is alive. Altho I'm unsure how many more Swift/Spark look-alikes this market can take.
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Old 13th April 2007, 23:45   #3
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@ wimwian,

its nothing unusual to see these unusual cars in kolkata. If you go to new alipore area you can easily spot one bue and black carrera. There are 5 or 6 R1s, CBR etc. You go down to Camac Street am sure you'll be able to see Audi A8 & BMW 7 series cars.Our housing complex holds around 5 Mercs from C to S class & two BMWs. & yeah get in touch with planetrocker & then u can be a part of the team BHP kolkata group.
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Old 14th April 2007, 00:25   #4
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You are right Wimwium, a few years back we used to spot a couple of Toyota Echo's and Yaris's in Kolkata. Infact there was also a Yaris Verso doing the rounds. A few days back when I was in Kolkata had seen another Diahatsu Cuore (without any sort of camouflaging) flying off the 2nd bridge toll gates. My guess is that Toyota uses Kolkata zone to zero in on Models that would work in India before actual customizing and prototype testing. Someone also spotted an Aygo. I find it hard to beleive that in Kolkata some people import small cars and all of them incidentally from Toyota stable.
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Old 14th April 2007, 00:28   #5
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Hold on the Van right behind is the Toyota Hi-ace, I think this belongs to some embassy, can it have any connections with the car in front?
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Old 14th April 2007, 00:37   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by theMAG View Post
This could be a finding far more important that it seems. Its no secret that Toyota's aiming at the B+ segment with vigor. They have been known to have considered various options from their stable including the Daihatsu Sirion -which would cost around Rs. INR 6.3 lakhs for the 1 L version. The latest version is that they are developing a car from scratch to meet pricing expectations.

This Sirion could mean any of the following:

1. A potential small car engine being road tested in the Sirion

2. Toyota seriously relooking at the Sirion due to reasons such as an extending new small car development time, or other cost-cuttings that aim to make the Sirion itself more affordable.

Nice to see signs that Toyota India is alive. Altho I'm unsure how many more Swift/Spark look-alikes this market can take.
Seems to be wider, and spacious as well... Might be competition for the fabia even...
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Old 14th April 2007, 01:02   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1100D View Post
Hold on the Van right behind is the Toyota Hi-ace, I think this belongs to some embassy, can it have any connections with the car in front?
It has a partially covered hood. The windscreen says San Mateo, which is a county in California. Does not look like an embassy connection to me but hey i could be wrong here.
Maybe its just that they come via the Calcutta port and not the Chennai one.
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Old 14th April 2007, 06:23   #8
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Lots of NRI may be bringing in cars as trf. of residence duty is less. This could be one of those?
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Old 14th April 2007, 22:47   #9
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it can't be one of those. For it to be brought in under a TR, it has to be owned by the nri for a few years in the country where its coming from... so it wouldn't have the brand new wrapping and stuff on it.
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Old 15th April 2007, 03:08   #10
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Why would some one import a compact car you can easily get a bigger indian car then why would someone go through the trouble importing a compact
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Old 16th April 2007, 19:06   #11
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Could it be a car destined for Bangladesh / Nepal ? Those go through Kolkata often. Had spotted what looked like the new Vitara a couple of months back.
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Old 16th April 2007, 20:48   #12
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Originally Posted by shuvc View Post
Could it be a car destined for Bangladesh / Nepal ? Those go through Kolkata often. Had spotted what looked like the new Vitara a couple of months back.
Yups, that seems to be the most likely answer... for one, there was no effort on the part of the manufacturer to hide the logo/model name etc... secondly, the car was just parked by the roadside with no driver in sight - don't think they will do that if they were seriously testing it!!
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Old 17th April 2007, 13:23   #13
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I agree with Mag and would think that this has far greater implications. If anyone wanted to casually import / forward, why a Daihatsu?

I smell Toyota. Great find, wimwian! Thanks for sharing...
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Old 17th April 2007, 13:33   #14
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Great find! I suggest you watermark these images ASAP, before they find themselves in someone else's hands.

Its about time Toyota got moving here and expanded their model range to include a small car. Just one question though, why in Kolkatta? There is no manufacturing base near there is there?
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Old 17th April 2007, 19:51   #15
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Toyota will do many months of consumer/ prosumer research before they make a launch. They are a conservative company, and happen to have more vehicles in their stable appropriate to each market, than they can actually launch. It should be no surprise if they are using Kolkata and thereabouts for doing their testing and feedback sessions. The roads vary between great to pathetic in short distances. Besides, they are probably looking to create a buzz subtly by letting the car be seen in a few places, and then listen in onto what the wind carries back to them. There are many foreign cars available locally to make this one attract too much attention, something that would have happened in Bangalore (also too close to the Toyota plant) and probably in Mumbai and Delhi too.
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