[mpksuhas]

Came to know from a friend that Toyota is doing test drive of etios around bangalore. But as many have mentioned its not Indian made Etios, these units are fully imported. The Bangalore facility assembly lane is scheduled to be completed only by December it seems. So production from there will be only this year end or early next year.

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

The Boot integration on the Hatch is much much better than that of the Manza or the Dzire.

Once the bandages are removed the sedan will look much much better.

The sedan version looked neat in the launch/teaser ads which were aired
an year back. Nice flowing lines.

[avishar]

How can they import fully built Etios?isnt the etios supposed to have its world premier in India and at present they are just manufactured here?

[SunilM]

NEW DELHI: Car maker Toyota Kirloskar Motor today said it may come out with a diesel version of its upcoming compact car, Etios, to make a mark in the Indian small car segment.

"During the Delhi Auto Expo and at other events, we have received lot of customer queries regarding a diesel engine for the car. Considering the response, we are also looking at bringing out a diesel version of the Etios, but nothing has been finalised so far," Toyota Kirsolkar Motor (TKM) Deputy Managing Director Sandeep Singh told reporters here.

He said the company is looking at the Etios as a breakthrough in its India strategy.

"The Indian small car market is a huge one where we had no presence so far. The launch of the Etios will mark our break into the strategic market," Singh said.

Commercial production of the Etios is to begin at TKM's second plant in Bangalore from December this year and the car will be formally launched in the same month or during the first quarter of 2011.

The company will bring out the petrol hatchback variant of the car with a 1.2 litre engine and the sedan variant with a 1.5 litre engine.

Asked about price point and positioning of the new car, he said: "The final price will be decided later. While the hatchback will compete with Maruti Suzuki's Swift, Hyundai's i20 petrol and Volkswagen's Polo, the sedan version will be positioned along Maruti's DZire and Tata's Manza."

The cars are priced between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 6.75 lakh. Etios will have a localisation rate of 70 per cent in its component parts.

The company's second Rs 3,000 crore plant at Bangalore will be entirely dedicated to production of the Etios. However, the car enngine will be imported from Japan.

"The Bangalore facility will have an initial capacity of 70,000 units annually and we will roll-out the same number of Etios(es) during the first 12 months. While India will be the focus market, we will also look at exporting the car later," Singh said.

TKM, a joint venture between Japanese auto giant Toyota and India's Kirloskar Group, already has a plant in Bangalore with an annual production capacity of 75,000 units.

The company is also going ahead with expansion of its dealership network to prepare for the upcoming launch of the compact car.

"By the end of 2011, we will have a total of 150 dealerships across the country, up from 98 currently. The focus of the outlets would be to capitalise on the expected demand for Etios," Singh said.

Source:Toyota mulls diesel variant of Etios-Automobiles-Auto-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

[nirmaljusdoit]

What's being seen on Indian roads are the prototypes built in Toyota's Japan R & D center. The final durability tests of the protos are being done to understand the overall performance & to arrive at the improvements required if any.

Once the Indian plant is ready by this year end, the Etios would be produced locally in Bangalore !

[avishar]

Knowing toyota they will not be the one to launch the diesel version immediately with the petrol.They will test the waters first,mull on it for a few months,and then after 6 months to a year we will see the diesel version.

[bsanjayrao]

Yesterday on my way back to Bangalore from Mangalore I spotted both the new cars from Toyota, the new hatch back and the sedan in Shiradi ghat. I guess they were testing these in the ghat section. They were going towads Mangalore and I spotted them just after Gundiya. I guess Toyota is testing them rigorously in all terrains

Sorry guys, could not click any pictures

[vivekgk]

Dear god, I fell asleep just looking at the pics. Look at that window line on the hatch - looks two gens old.

It's sad that Toyota keeps doing this whenever they cater to the sub-10 lakh market. First the qualis and now this.

[pgsagar]

UGLY, UGLY, UGLY!!! That's all I think of this car. Cars are becoming uglier by the day. Why? But no problem, it's India where logo makes all the difference. Santro, i10, Wagon R sell more than beautiful A-star and Sparks and Beats. And since it's a Toyota, it can get away with anything. Indians will queue up to buy this aberration on wheels.

[harishnair]

Toyota's strategy is very simple here.

Simple body lines = Cheaper Manufac. cost = Cheaper ex-showroom price = Happy customer = higher sales.

The above mentioned scenerio only works with companies like Toyota, Honda etc. which are known for their reliability(brand value also plays a part). The Etios twins are a fairly big cars and their USP is going to be practicality rather than design.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Santro, i10, Wagon R sell more than beautiful A-star and Sparks and Beats. And since it's a Toyota, it can get away with anything. Indians will queue up to buy this aberration on wheels.

They sell more bcoz they are more practical compared to A-star or Beat. A good design will not guarantee higher sales.Its no use having a car like the Beat which looks good but has limited boot space and a claustrophobic rear seat. In India these cars are mostly bought by families and they want their car to be spacious enough for their kids and cargo.The best new VFM car to come out in a long time IMHO is the Ford Figo.

[theragingbull]

A pic of the Etios hatch under testing.

Source: NDTV CNB Facebook page

[grules]

From the above pic, the car seems to look much better without the chrome cladding. (I know looks are subjective. Just a thought.)

[vivekgk]

Toyota seems to have done nothing more than bring in the old Echo model from it's middle east/US range, redesign a few bits and introduce it as an all-new car. It's the Qualis scenario all over again, and Indians will of course lap up any old design as long as it has a Toyota badge on it. Shame on you, Toyota, for abusing your brand value.

[revved_up]

This morning while coming to office on the Dwarka Gurgaon Underpass road, I saw the Etios hatch. Car looks nice and meaty in my opinion. It had the console on the centre of the dashboard. Below are are pics i took. It looks like the same car that was spotted in Mumbai.

[commodore]

The Etios hatchback looks great from the front but the rear is just appalling, not in the least bit elegant. Don't know , maybe i'm just being overtly critical.