Think of a car designed especially for India and I bet that most of you (including myself) will imagine a small el-cheapo hatchback designed to be as cheap to buy and run as possible so that people are able to upgrade to covered four wheeler transportation from their usual bikes.
And so when Toyota announced that they would be unveiling a “for India” compact at the Delhi expo this month, I had imagined that sort of car. After all, Toyota has Daihatsu K-car expertise at their disposal. Boy was I wrong! Just watch the video above, which teases the Indian-bound concept that has been named the Toyota Etios, and you’ll see what I mean. In case you were wondering, the word Etios means ‘the origin of’.
Although Indian streets are full of small Maruti Suzuki hatchbacks, the demand for sedans there are also sufficient enough not to ignore. Which is Suzuki took the trouble to sedan a sedan version of the Swift. The Toyota Etios compact concept car is in fact a small sedan, and since the video says this car is going to be available globally as well, we could potentially be looking at the next generation Toyota Vios replacement, or at least a car that shares a common platform and engine range with a future Vios. Or this could be a sedan that slots in under the Vios. We will know once we find out what the size of this car is exactly.
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
The rear looks plain
What was pretty dramatic for a budget compact sedan.
Back to the heydays of 1st gen (Vios) Soluna?
Makes great sense for Toyota to come up with something truly bargain-basement and sub-compact since the current Vios has grown up somewhat over the generations…a Toyota the size of new Saga in Q4 2010 at say, RM59,800 anyone?
looks like there will be a whole new dugongs in india.toyota etios,reminds me to our beloved vios aka dugong.tail light looks kinda weird and looks kinda same with the rolls royce phantom's tail light.but it doesn't really looks like a compact sedan to me,and from my view,this compact sedan is bigger than our current vios.
toyota using old TOYOTA emblem at the rear? not using T logo anymore?
looks awesome.
Toyota should build a car that competes with the low cost Saga. Even if it is 50-60k, it will still sell like hot cakes no matter how bad it looks.
the rear looks like old model of Kia Optima…
Bruno said,
January 1, 2010 @ 11:53 pm
Toyota should build a car that competes with the low cost Saga. Even if it is 50-60k, it will still sell like hot cakes no matter how bad it looks
===============================================
P2 already doing that here but if Toyota were to throw prices then "somebody"
will start shouting -tak patriotic/hilang kerja/no R&D/engineering/rebadge.
Saga is also entering the India market. Lets see who will capture the
market there.And how P1 will price their product.
Toyota bargain????
you gotta be kidding me.
Toyota quality????
It's was damn arguable now.
there's too many cases Toyota failure in UK and US now.
example.. their gas pedal stucked caused by the floor mat that kills a family!
and many more.
THIS IS MY F*CKIN DREAM CARR .. TOYOOTAA
Imagine how a uglier HONDA City before transformed to CURRENT "more real" sedan Indian-inspired City (unlike booted Jazz Mk III City)?
The production Etios will replaced better than existing Yaris-based Vios; first launched in China. Vios rely on Chinese standard perhaps, like mark IV City to Indian standard.
Comparing between these two (City vs Toyota's Soluna/Vios/Yaris/Vitz/Corolla II/Tercel/Corsa) I believed this Toyota effort (under the founder grandson CEO) will hurt Honda City's warm response though not in very near future.
Toyota really wanna change from RED to dark – and this bread and butter model really need a decent perception on the overall value of the car, not merely relying solely on the T-badge alone.
I wonder if this car will be sold under the Daihatsu badge. Daihatsu is desperately in need of a sedan model in European countries and this model would be a much better selection than Altis.
Bruno said,
January 1, 2010 @ 11:53 pm
Toyota should build a car that competes with the low cost Saga. Even if it is 50-60k, it will still sell like hot cakes no matter how bad it looks
——————————
i have seen toyota echo at saudi about 3 year back, which current generation was yaris http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Platz
i dont think T want to interrupt P1 market share since malaysian G already give them P2… all politic …
that rear light got a 'hindistan ambassador' vibe to it…, maybe its an india-only model ,they got 1 billion ppl there.., if you sell 300k unit shud be sufficient
eh , i meant 'hindustan ambassador' , its an indian car
nice flowing design duhh…
Low cost, light weight, short on features. Probably.
But then again, looks like India is having it better then us.
High cost, light weight, short on features……
BM Power.
Toyotas are cheap cars most places on the planet….along with Honda, Hyundai and KIA. You can't simply apply the seriously warped Malaysian prices and make any worthwhile deductions. If I had paid USD$16k (about 1/3 my annual salary) for a well equipped Corolla and it lasts 15 years without any major issues…I would think its a good bargain….compared to whatever similarly priced amarican rubbish that was available that time (er Chevy Cavalier/Pontiac Sunfire, Dodge Neon, Ford Escort/Focus MK1)
Its a matter of perspective, and one unfortunately completely warped in Malaysia.
If I had paid something like USD$12K for this new Etios, you think i'd be complaining much when parts fall off after 10 years?
yeaHHH.. toyota also will produce compact sedan will be assembled in Indonesia..
Seems like in future, Toyota will dump mesia as their assembler and start focusing Indonesia for their small sedan assembler..
a sad news for UUW and p2 indeed
sulaiman said,
January 2, 2010 @ 12:42 am
P2 already doing that here but if Toyota were to throw prices then “somebody”
will start shouting -tak patriotic/hilang kerja/no R&D/engineering/rebadge.
Saga is also entering the India market. Lets see who will capture the
market there.And how P1 will price their product.
=============
Sulaiman.. can u tell me what Toyota model in Japan that Viva rebadge from?
notice the door handle is the old type, even the current vios door handle is "mercedes like" type. it cannot be the exact replacement for vios.
Dacia Logan rival…
If it is coming to malaysia at a real cheap price, i think a lot of people is going to buy this because they love the logo and don't care about their safety and comfort at all..
how much??Malaysia have??but look lyk nth
bmpower said,
January 2, 2010 @ 1:29 am
Toyota bargain????
you gotta be kidding me.
Toyota quality????
It’s was damn arguable now.
there’s too many cases Toyota failure in UK and US now.
example.. their gas pedal stucked caused by the floor mat that kills a family!
and many more.
———————————————————–
Hey…my old Satria gas pedal get stuck everyday…just flick it back out when it's stuck…these stuff happens. Left foot braking helps. Selecting neutral will solve that problem also.
Toyota, Honda, Proton or whatever…shit is bound to happen.
Anyway…that new rear light is ugly.
BMW has so many failures we have lost count…..
bring and proton will die!!!
Quality? Anticipated to see what quality all about. I think most of the toyota's low end cars interior are ugly. but not as bad proton interior.
P1 one go to sleep..
You can expect the Proton Sage selling in India would quipped with better specs with lower price compare to local ~ !
i can't believe that the rakyat have to feed the money to the cronies on each new car they buy be it proton, perodua or naza or any other new cars! better buy used car than shit quality cars like this!
what used car suppose to buy then?
then how bout the warranty? got ah 2 years 3 years or 5 years or whatever year warranty?
how bout sc? bawah pokok sc?
not bad for a budget car man
will this car reach in our shore?
peYno said,
January 2, 2010 @ 8:45 am
yeaHHH.. toyota also will produce compact sedan will be assembled in Indonesia..
Seems like in future, Toyota will dump mesia as their assembler and start focusing Indonesia for their small sedan assembler..
a sad news for UUW and p2 indeed
—————————————————————-
Bro peyno,
don't be too confident when saying that, maybe you're not watching current news few week backs as our TPM has met the top people from Toyota what they've been saying is totally differed from your statement…
How typical of toyota, using marketing strategies more suited to something like a new Mark X to go about for what was basically a rebodied Vios.
Check Toyota India's site, Vios wasn't sold there, and soon, now it will. Let's see what's in Toyota's warehouse and we could then determine what it is.
1. Definitely its gonna be FWD
2. No way it'll be 2.0 liter, or even 1.8 as the Altis was sold there
3. Indians weren't exactly rich, but then owning a car is already a luxury, therefore anything with a Toyota brand, and then cheaper for Altis, and for India's growing middle class, it is newfound luxury.
4. Therefore, something cheaper than Altis, less than 1.8 litres, FWD, marketed as some kind of new found luxury. Sounds familiar?
5. Suzuki Maruti is the best selling car in India, something to compete against it would be great, so what's the best way of persuading poor people to buy? Giving them bang for buck, but not exactly marketing it that way.
So it'll be a sedan, larger than maruti, but then with a 1.3 liter engine, a refreshened exterior, FWD, with both auto and manual options.
A cut price, cut spec Vios that'll be named Etios, looks different than the Vios, not exactly uglier, not exactly prettier either.
There you go.
i thought it want to beat nano in cheap price
india the best
boring toyota & india.
The new Toyota Klan will born in india…. can see the toyota "kipas susah mati" in india future.
Competitor to the Ambassador?
Spy shot at India Auto Expo 2009 before the opening:
http://www.autoincar.com/spyshot-toyota-etios-ind…
Looks like a facelift Kelisa and a kelisa with a proper booth.
from the way it looks and its dimensions, Its just another facelifted Vios, but Toyota dosent want its engineers to look lazy… hence, The "All New" Etios.