Toyota launches Etios sedan in India, hatchback to follow in April 2011

BANGALORE - Japanese carmaker Toyota launched its entry-level sedan Etios in India in an event held in Bangalore on Wednesday.

So far Toyota has been a marginal player in the low-priced mass market for cars in India.

However, with the launch of Etios sedan and unveiling of Etios hatchback, the company hopes to plug that loophole.

The hatchback model, to be launched in April 2011, would mark Toyota’s first entry into the Indian mass market.

Toyota Kirloskar, a joint venture between the Japanese carmaker and the Indian Kirloskar group, will be promoting the Etios in India.

Hiroshi Nagakawa, Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar, said that the company plans to sell 70,000 units of the Etios sedan and hatchback in India in 2011.

“Today we launched the sedan Etios and the hatchback following within a couple of months, we will officially launch. Put together, sedan and hatchback, we are expecting 70,000 number of production in the year 2011,” Nakagawa said.

Toyoto President Akio Toyoda, who was present at the launch, said that both the models have been rigorously tested on Indian roads, covering nearly 200,000 kilometres across the country’s rugged terrain and dusty roads.

“We at Toyota say that the road makes the car, and the Etios is a product of real world testing on roads thoughout India. We have driven the Etios across more than 200000 kilometres of Indian roads,” Toyoda said.

The 1.5-liter gasoline-powered Etios sedan has been competitively priced at Rs. 4.96 lakh for the base variant at showrooms in New Delhi.

The top-end version will cost Rs 6.86 lakh. (ANI)