The much awaited compact sedan from the house of Toyota will be rolled out in India within an hour or so, after the vehicle was under development for almost four years. Etios is the result of a conceptualisation by Toyota the potentiality of bringing out a small car that would storm the emerging markets across the globe. Earlier, the world's second largest car manufacturer has never comtemplated in terms of producing a mass car in the compact segment and this thinking proves the perception of small car is going to stay. It took solid four years to develop this ambitious car and the fag end of it all, the firm's dedication and hardwork are going to be attaining fruition when the vehicle would be rolled out in India in a couple of hours from now. While the sedan version of Etios would be launched today, the hatchback will be rolled out next year.
According the company officials, a lot of contemplation and manhours have gone into the development of Etios. What is more Toyota Kirloskar Motor Limited, the Indian joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp of Japan and Kirloskar Group is pinning lot of hopes on this particular product, especially when the firm is entering the big league of mass volume market, taking on the might of Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India, Ford India, Nissan India, GM India and others. Etios comes at a time when the Indian market is seeing an all time boom, especially in the small car segment, where products such as Hyundai i10, Ford Figo, Nissan Micra, Chevrolet Beat, Maruti Suzuki's Alto and a whole lot of small cars, not to mention Tata Nano are making a killing and it is hoped that Toyota will also cash in on the situation and create a niche for itself in this segment with Etios. Actually, both the sedan and hatchback of Etios are targeted at Maruti Suzuki's Swift and Swift Dzire, but would also be a threat to other products including Nissan's Micra, Ford's Figo and Volkswagen's Polo and other small cars as well.
Though a compact car, Etios is a cut above the so called small cars like Ford Figo or a Nissan Micra, but has more features than what Maruti Suzuki India can offer in its cars both Swift and Dzire and that makes it all the more interesting. As Toyota has always brought premium products and that is in its DNA, yet its quest to bring an entry level sedan and a hatchback in the compact car segment has met with success with the launch of Etios in a while. Lookwise, it is a head turner, when compared with the so called small cars, but for a sesan of VW Polo's stature, Etios looks a tad bit mediocre, so to say.
The firm has not worked real hard on aesthetics as is evident, but given the fact that the vehicle was designed under tremendous pressure in order to keep the costs at bay, obviously, the design part got a beating, nevertheless, it is not aweful either. On the first site, it does give a resemblence of Renault's Logan, meaning the latter's design has not been widely accepted in this country. More particularly, the triangular tail lamps and the straightforward waistline and the headlamps of Etios resembles and hence the resemblance is being made.
What is more, in the Etios, the interiors are awesome and far better than the contemporary compact cars that are making headlines in India. Furthermore, the sedan does look spacious for its genre, we will have to wait for the hatch to be rolled out to find what have they done with that car. We will keep you posted, once the details of the roll out of Etios trickles in...
Toyota Etios to be rolled out today
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