[kdeepakk]

Hey nice find aravind. Did anybody notice, its a Bangalore Registration vehicle, hope one of our dealer is testing it. We need to check on it.

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by kdeepakk

Hey nice find aravind. Did anybody notice, its a Bangalore Registration vehicle, hope one of our dealer is testing it. We need to check on it.

Toyota (TKM) plant is near Bangalore. So it is expected to be KA registration. Testing is mostly done by TKM guys. Else pics would have leaked, big time Think they might have transported the car to AP for test drive.

Anyway this is a great scoop.

[fx45]

saw this car personally in Dubai.. looks like a mini camry.

[rapideffect]

I beleive this is the Corolla Axio supposed to launch in May 2008 in India.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Didnt get you. You like it or not ?

Sorry for the confusion mate; It has no character or road presence at all...just another John Doe car.

This is IMO, amen.

[vkochar]

I was speaking to someone last night and he said the Corrolla is going to be launched mid next month and pricing is expected to be below the current Corrolla.

I feel if Toyota does price it between 9.0 - 11.0 lacs, it's a winner, else people will go for the Civic.

I think it's quite Boring looking compared to the Civic, but as a driver's car, the current Corrolla is quite good so this will also be in all probablities - be better to drive !!

[diabloo]

So the New City (NC) due in Oct 2008 has one more competitor .
If Toyota attacks NC with Corolla, what will they attack Civic with? New Yaris ?

Originally Posted by vkochar

I was speaking to someone last night and he said the Corrolla is going to be launched mid next month and pricing is expected to be below the current Corrolla.

[vkochar]

Originally Posted by diabloo

So the New City (NC) due in Oct 2008 has one more competitor .
If Toyota attacks NC with Corolla, what will they attack Civic with? New Yaris ?

Yes, that is probably true and I feel it is smart of Toyota to target a more Volume seller. Any one buying NC will consider a Toyota Axio if priced just a little more.

I would say Toyota should just leave the Civic and look for something else. There is now way that they can take out such a Sporty / Funky looking Sedan ( Civic - I love to call it that !! ). The Civic is light years ahead of any other car.

Yaris - I have no clue when it will be launched ( If ever )

[karanraheja]

I dunno if Toyota will try placing Corolla around or lil above City . But frankly speaking i dont think they wanna do that. The Corolla brand name is already respected. My guess is the base version of New Corolla will be priced around top end version NNHC VTEC ( since we expecting Honda to increase price of NNHC)

[asr245]

Originally Posted by vkochar

I was speaking to someone last night and he said the Corrolla is going to be launched mid next month and pricing is expected to be below the current Corrolla.

If that's the case... I surely would be interested in it. I like the looks of it. Civic does look better but I wouldn't call it light years ahead of Corrolla. Plus Honda A.S.S. sucks when compared to Maruti though I have heard that it's still better than Ford or Fiat. Hows Toyota's A.S.S?

[vkochar]

Originally Posted by asr245

Plus Honda A.S.S. sucks when compared to Maruti though I have heard that it's still better than Ford or Fiat. Hows Toyota's A.S.S?

Toyota's After Sales is really good here in Agra & Delhi. I can second that.

Honda I am not sure but never heard anything bad also about it.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by vkochar

Toyota's After Sales is really good here in Agra & Delhi. I can second that.

Honda I am not sure but never heard anything bad also about it.

My dad has an OHC VTEC. I have always heard him complain about it. I remember an issue when they service guys were ready to replace all the locks in his car (costing about Rs12K) when the fault actually lied with the key!

[hollaback]

the new corolla looks good, but is it good enough ?

How would you guys rate it against the VW Jetta which is also coming out soon

Though i am guessing there would be a significant price gap between them:
New Corolla (10-11 lakhs)
VW Jetta (14-15 lakhs)

I read on another post i started that the Corolla is being launched first week of August and the Jetta on 15th July

Decisions ....decisions

[aravindwarrier]

Friends, Let me apologise first of all for being away from the forum after posting those pics.I was tied up with work, a lot of it and finally had to stop when I was given what was rightfully due in terms of a Shoulder Sprain/Swell.

Thank you all for all those kind words of appreciation, however,as said earlier I was on my job (raiding roadside dhabhas for usage of Domestic LPG Cylinders ) at that place at that time and apart from acting swiftly by running across the road to take the quick pics, I have no credit to claim. And of course, i had to explain to my fellow team members all aged 55+ ,My sudden weird behaviour The TKM guys had stopped for a quick sip of tea, and spotting the car, I jumped to my feet to take pics and the guys were obviously surprised as well as irritated to find a guy even in such a place to spoil their day.


About the car:

Disclaimer:I did not have more than a few seconds to appreciate the car , and that too was spent in taking pics. So my perceptions might be wrong as well.

• LARGER THAN CURRENT COROLLA
• HAS DESCENT GC, BUT DO NOT HAVE THAT "PANTS PULLED TO THE ANKLES LOOK " A LA THE CURRENT COROLLA
• TONED DOWN CAMRI-ISH DESIGN.THIS ONE IS NO DARTH WADER AND WILL NOT SCARE THE KIDS, lOOKED ALMOST ELEGENT TO MY EYES.
• ALTHOUGH PEOPLE ARE DERIVING PARALLELS TO SX4, NEW ACCORD ETC, IT DID NOT STRIKE ME AT THE TIME.ACCORD..MAY BE, BUT SX4..., NAH.
• VVT-I BADGE COULD BE MADE OUT, DESPITE THE CONCEALING MOREOVER THE ENGINE NOISE(LACK OF IT) WOULD GIVE AWAY THE FACT THAT IT WAS A PETROL.
• INTERIORS ARE BETTER AND LOOK FRESH AND MODERN WITH ALUMINIUM/FAKE ALUMINIUM FINISH IN THE FRONT PANEL, HOWEVER NOWHERE CLOSE TO CIVIC.
• CANNOT PROVIDE ANY ASSESSMENT OF INTERIOR SPACE, HOWEVER IT LOOKED SPACIOUS, WITH BEIGE/OFF WHITE FINISH

All in all, the car has to be rounded package, as the design could ,in no way be compared to the civic (of which i'm a huge fan) .Thats all I can gather,may be we can see it in our neighbourhood dealerships in the coming months..


NOW LET ME ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUERIES WHICH ARE NOT COVERED IN MY IMPRESSIONS.

Originally Posted by maxbhp

Nice scoop arvind warrier. I hope they are testing D4D's too coz thats what we are waiting for.

It was a VVT-i No clue about D4Ds. However, let us hope that could be their only trump card against the Civic.I am also a huge fan of that engine after using an Innova for couple of days.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Its plain jain in front of the oh-so-furistic Civic.... its boring!

Yes it is... just a run of the mill car, and there is no giant leaps as far as the design is concerned

Originally Posted by karanraheja

Nice Scoop Arvind. I somehow dont like the taillights of the New Corolla.
Front looks decent. Interiors should be better than present.

Interiors appealed to me, devoid of fake wood finish, the plastics/fake metal were all lighter shades, giving the cabin somewhat airy feel

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Nice find Arvind.

Looks pretty good and looks like its based on the camry. But like mentioned by others its nothing close to a civic.

Like said earlier, i think they plan to target a different segment- may be the more mature/older/sensible group or a lesser price group with petrol and higher with diesel? Given a choice, i'd not think twice before saying "One Civic please" provided both are in the same price range

Originally Posted by vkochar

Nice Pics there. Too heavily watermarked I must say !!

Last pic looks somewhat like the Accord. Lets wait and see when it launches.

Well it was just the opposite when i had posted initially.But at least it'd deter somebody else running away with the credit,as it happened with the dezire.And on hindsight, I now feel i was just plain stupid in posting it without properly watermarking it Thanks Rudra, for that edit.

Originally Posted by kdeepakk

Hey nice find aravind. Did anybody notice, its a Bangalore Registration vehicle, hope one of our dealer is testing it. We need to check on it.

Although answered already, I'd like to clarify. This was a TKM vehicle and apart from the driver (the chap in the first pic) the co-driver was a company exec, who was frantically jesticulating me not to take pics.
The car was found at a place in between chittoor and Palamaner, which is part of the old route connecting chennai to bangalore. The road offers variety in the sense of village folks, cows, bufalloes, truckies ,some single file brigdes, a hand full of Level-crosses ,some twisties and off cambered/unscientific curves and some badly surfaced stretches. A perfect mix I should say.

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

Sorry for the confusion mate; It has no character or road presence at all...just another John Doe car.

This is IMO, amen.

Wait a min before taking that all important decision bro.In the case of most men, it is their eyes that signify their character, and in the case of cars, that is analogous to the headlamps, which are concealed in these pics.Imagine a scorpio running with Headlamps from Santro Xing (check the weird and whacky thread for such examples and you'll come to know)

Originally Posted by karanraheja

I dunno if Toyota will try placing Corolla around or lil above City . But frankly speaking i dont think they wanna do that. The Corolla brand name is already respected. My guess is the base version of New Corolla will be priced around top end version NNHC VTEC ( since we expecting Honda to increase price of NNHC)

If that is to be true,the package indeed will be well rounded and.... well received, given their paramount repute in reliability many middle class/upper middle class will ditch sx4/city for corolla .

[sidd_city]

Just looks like another facelift to me Then why the need of testing? Unless they are trying a new engine maybe a D4D. Anyway looks good to me much better then the one sold now.