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Old 6th May 2010, 19:31   #76
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If Toyota plans to utilize the same engine for the upcoming Avanza too, then maybe the cost can come down and the people worried here about the premium price of the Toyota diesel can relax.
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Old 7th May 2010, 01:11   #77
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The Corolla in Spain does come with the 1.4 D-4D engine. Even the combined mileage figure in the specs show 4.6l/100kms that's about 21.74 kms/l.

Link:

Corolla Sedán - Especificaciones - Coches y Automóviles Toyota

Last edited by neeld : 7th May 2010 at 01:15. Reason: correction
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Old 7th May 2010, 01:55   #78
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^^ The same page has the 0-100 time of 11.9secs mentioned, this is a very good time, i expected a 90bhp diesel Corolla to be slower.
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Old 7th May 2010, 07:04   #79
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Is there any update on the Verso? If so, the same engine can there as well.
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Old 7th May 2010, 08:13   #80
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad View Post
I am not too sure about the "Toyota Diesel Taxi" theory. Firstly, I do not feel this is a segment Toyota would be targetting. Its safe to say that it is a very image concious brand and would not like to be labelled as a "hit with the taxi waalas". Remember the very successful Qualis? They could have very well sold the hit formula next to the Innova and you can rest assured the taxi market would have lapped it up. Although there are quite a few Innova taxis puttering about in the cities, I m sure an Innova owner (private user) would not get the feeling of him buying a taxi. This sentiment was not mirrored by the Qualis owners.

Moreover, for a diesel taxi sedan, there are other (cheaper) options in the market. Maybe a few Diesel Altis taxis in hotels etc, but no way will this be a taxi thing.

Btw, when is it scheduled for launch?
Sorry to say this boss, but outside India Corolla and Camry form majority of the Taxi segment. Infact just because of this fact, Corolla has been the best seller car for Toyota and has topped the sales chart in many countries,

Coming back to India, even at the time of launch Qualis was an outdate product, but it was hugely successfull owing to its Rock-solid engine, body, FE and overall Excellent VFM packaging. And Indian market did not had any Luxury MPV at that time, Only Tata Sumo (Read Crude MPV here) was available,

Qualis was replaced more because of Toyota's Global strategy and owing to the fact that except India, in all Global markets, Innova had long back replaced Qualis, so, they had no option but to replace Qualis with Innova keeping inline their Global Market scenario.

Regarding Innovas as a Taxi, Go to any Metro and you will find numerous Innovas plying as Taxis. Infact, I know a lot of people who just dont buy the Innova because of the Taxi Tag attached to it, However because of the fact that majorly, the base model of Innova is used as Taxis, hence, people buy the Top models and the one below with ease, Also, more because there is still no good luxury MPV available in India which can carry 7-8 people giving excellent comfort levels and decent FE with good ride quality.

OT: Regarding Any company's Target Audience, all companies care for, at the end of the day, are sales. I remember at the time of Mahindra Logan launch, it was not released in White color and the reason given was that the company did not wanted the car to be labeled as Taxi. But see now, Taxi segment is one of the largest buyers of Logan.

Last edited by shantanumishra : 7th May 2010 at 08:19.
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Old 7th May 2010, 14:40   #81
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shantanumishra View Post
Sorry to say this boss, but outside India Corolla and Camry form majority of the Taxi segment. Infact just because of this fact, Corolla has been the best seller car for Toyota and has topped the sales chart in many countries,

Coming back to India, even at the time of launch Qualis was an outdate product, but it was hugely successfull owing to its Rock-solid engine, body, FE and overall Excellent VFM packaging. And Indian market did not had any Luxury MPV at that time, Only Tata Sumo (Read Crude MPV here) was available,

Qualis was replaced more because of Toyota's Global strategy and owing to the fact that except India, in all Global markets, Innova had long back replaced Qualis, so, they had no option but to replace Qualis with Innova keeping inline their Global Market scenario.

Regarding Innovas as a Taxi, Go to any Metro and you will find numerous Innovas plying as Taxis. Infact, I know a lot of people who just dont buy the Innova because of the Taxi Tag attached to it, However because of the fact that majorly, the base model of Innova is used as Taxis, hence, people buy the Top models and the one below with ease, Also, more because there is still no good luxury MPV available in India which can carry 7-8 people giving excellent comfort levels and decent FE with good ride quality.

OT: Regarding Any company's Target Audience, all companies care for, at the end of the day, are sales. I remember at the time of Mahindra Logan launch, it was not released in White color and the reason given was that the company did not wanted the car to be labeled as Taxi. But see now, Taxi segment is one of the largest buyers of Logan.
No apologies needed Mishra ji . My post was with reference to Toyota in India only.

You say Qualis was outdated. I ask you this, how many manufacturers do you know of that currently sell their outdated products in India, sometimes side by side with their latest offerings (eg - Accent / Verna)? And as per your post, the competetion was anyway below the "outdated" model's standards. So why discontinue the leader of the pack?

And what was the global strategy of Toyota that led to this replacement? Kindly enlighten me. You say that "Innova had long back replaced Qualis (in other countries), so, they had no option but to replace Qualis with Innova ". What was that compelling factor here? How does it matter what one company sells in another country? How difficult would it have been for Toyota to say - Here's a product (Qualis), it works for India, so it is being sold. You want a premium feel, here's the upgraded Innova.

I never said that innovas are not sold as taxis. in my original post, I stated that "you can find many Innova taxis puttering about in cities". As a product, the Innova has been successful to shake off the "primarily a taxi" badge and taken space in the "luxury MPV" segment, a task Qualis could not do. And I do not agree with your comments on people buying high end variants on Innova for personal use. Qualis had different versions / variants also ..... so what are you implying here?

I do not wish to discuss perceptions here, but for every 1 person you show me who is weary of Innova's cabbie image, I can show you 5 who do not feel the same.

In my opinion, Toyota is an image concious brand. It forms the entry luxury segment in India. The company would not like the "taxi tag", and I feel my above statements point to the same rationale. All manufacturers do want profits, but brand value cannot be diluted for some players. And if its only about profits, why would Toyota pull out a product that was raking in tons of moolah, with zero expenditure on product development, R&D and marketing (Qualis virtually sold by itself). Think about it.

Logan was a cheap sedan (at least in comparison to Toyota), offered good space and relative ease of maintainence. What is Toyota Corolla's USP in the taxi market, what with latest diesel engines available for half the price (maybe lesser) that too are quite easy on the pocket and fairly reliable? At best, you will see a mere handful of Corollas as taxis.

And just so that we are on the same page, all comments are in context to Toyota in India and India alone.
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Old 7th May 2010, 15:30   #82
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Another point I failed to understand is what people mean when they say Altis is only for chauffeured folks. Its boring.

As long as the vehicle runs rock solid on highways has good space and comfort and interiors and an FE to die for, how does the "boring" part come in?

Is it the availability of power on demand, which makes the difference?

Looks I agree are subjective and individual oriented. So lets not that.
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Old 7th May 2010, 16:08   #83
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^^ The Handling, Steering and power delivery are all tuned for comfortable driving. In comparison everything in Civic like Seating position, Steering and power delivery characteristics feel more driver focussed.
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Old 7th May 2010, 19:19   #84
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A Corolla with a 1.4 diesel is a shame. But Toyota have realised that it is better than having no diesel at all. So it is no surprise that they are shouting about the FE figures.
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Old 7th May 2010, 21:13   #85
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Quote:
Originally Posted by .anshuman View Post
^^ The same page has the 0-100 time of 11.9secs mentioned, this is a very good time, i expected a 90bhp diesel Corolla to be slower.
Man! I pray... Toyota please plonk a good diesel engine on to an already fabulous chassis. We don't want another expensive way of going slow... aka... Fiat Linea 1.3 MJD
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Old 7th May 2010, 22:02   #86
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Will toyota be launching the diesel engine in the facelifted corolla which is available abroad?
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Old 8th May 2010, 18:43   #87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad View Post
No apologies needed Mishra ji . My post was with reference to Toyota in India only.

And just so that we are on the same page, all comments are in context to Toyota in India and India alone.
I do agree with the comments. We need not look into Altis or Camry worldwide, and talk about the Taxi population. If that is the case, here in Singapore there are loads of Merc taxis - which does not take any glory away from the brand.
Contrary to other markets, in India Toyota do have pretty good brand image. And recent proof is the success of Fortuner.
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Old 10th May 2010, 05:54   #88
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This toyota is not competing with CIVIC. Is this not a hatchback? wow, a 10 plus lack 1.4D hatchback, that should really is tempting.
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Old 10th May 2010, 15:09   #89
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This is really a good move by Toyota and also good diesel engines are the need of the hour in indian markets. i seriously hope that this model is not overpriced.
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Old 10th May 2010, 15:35   #90
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^^ Mahesh - could you please point me to the link which suggests that the corolla would be a hatch? This link - "Corolla Sedán - Especificaciones - Coches y Automóviles Toyota" suggests it would be a sedan.

Also, IMO a 10+ lac 1.4 diesel hatch would not exactly be a tempting option to a majority of the population.
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