Toyota Etios Sedan Production Started Near Bangalore
Toyota Motors India has announced that it has started the production of newly launched Etios sedan at its manufacturing plant in Bidadi near Bangalore. The manufacturing facility is operated by the Kirloskar Group-Toyota Kirloskar Motor joint venture and has a production capacity of about 80,000 units a year. Toyota Etios was launched on December 1 with much fanfare with a price tag of Rs. 5 Lakh.
The new sedan in the Indian auto market received tremendous response as the company, in just few days registered a booking of twelve-thousand cars. The sedan will be competing with the already established Maruti Swift Dzire, Tata Manza, Mahindra Logan and the likes. With its annual sales target of 70,000 units, the Toyota Etios should account for almost half of the total sales target of 145,000 units which Toyota has set for India. The Etios is currently only available as a sedan, powered by an all-new 1.5-liter 16-valve DOHC engine with 89 hp at 5600 rpm and 132 Nm at 3000 rpm. A smaller 1.2l engine is also being considered as a good choice for the model. The hatchback version of Toyota Etios called Liva will be launched in April 2011 as well. And going by the early response for the sedan version, the car will be popular with Indian customers. So, Toyota India Motor is planning to launch Etios Diesel by December 2011, according to a company official.