Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Wednesday started taking orders through dealerships nationwide for the Etios sedan, a compact car newly developed specifically for the Indian market.
The Etios, developed over a five-year period with the help of numerous Indian engineers and with direct consumer input, is aimed at meeting the needs of middle-class consumers, a market segment that is expected to expand rapidly as the Indian economy develops further.
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TKM plans to launch a hatchback version, the Etios Liva, in April 2011.
At a Bangalore event to mark the announcement, TMC president Akio Toyoda, emphasizing that Toyota has long strived to provide consumers everywhere with products that meet their needs, said: “The all-new Etios reflects our determination to serve an even-broader range of customers here with genuine Toyota quality.”
When developing the Etios, TKM aimed for and achieved a high local-procurement rate of parts to create a vehicle with strong ties to the Indian market. Production of the vehicle will create more than 2,000 jobs at TKM’s second plant and approximately 500 jobs at Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts where Etios engine production is scheduled to start in autumn of 2012 and transmission production in early 2013.
Etios chief engineer Yoshinori Noritake said: “It was very important to understand the needs of Indian car buyers before designing an India specific car. We learnt that Indian customers are very price conscious but at the same time want space and comfort for their family, and style to enhance their status. One of the strong points of the Etios sedan is its true sedan design – designed on a sedan platform and not as a hatch with a boot – smart packaging that makes it compact at the same time spacious. More than 2000 engineers from Japan and India have worked in close collaboration over the last four years with a vision to offer Etios customers the ‘joy of ownership’ and ‘quality of life’.”
TKM is also planning exports of the vehicle.
The sedan has a 1.5-litre petrol engine and the hatch a 1.2. Targeted annual volume is 70,000 units.
Prices range from INR496,000 to INR686,500 (US$10,754-$14,884).
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