Toyota Etios in demand

You know a car is in great demand when the queue of people (well virtual, of course!) waiting to buy it is really long. If you thought Maruti Swift, Maruti Swift Dzire, Ford Figo, Chevrolet Captiva et al were the only ones that could boast of long waiting periods then here is some news for you.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is all set to almost double the production of its recently launched sedan Toyota Etios in order to avoid loosing customers to other models. At present the waiting period of Toyota Etios stretches to about eight months.

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The Toyota Etios comes with a 1.5-litre engine capable of producing close to 90bhp. Etios has been especially designed for emerging markets and has good interiors including comfortable front and back seats with excellent fabric and build quality. The Toyota Etios has a 595 liter boot but the seats do not fold to make more room.

Etios has a centrally mounted instrument cluster and leather-wrapped steering wheel in the higher end model. It is priced at Rs 4,96,000 - Rs 6,86,500 (ex-showroom, New Delhi).

See More Toyota Etios Photos                                                                                                            Read More on Toyota Etios

Etios was launched in December last year and has a waiting period of six-eight months. Currently the company produces at least 2,500 units a month, but the demand for Etios is hovering around 7,000 units. The production will be raised to 4,500-5,000 units says the company.

The car has stepped into very competitive segment and is up against rivals like Maruti Suzuki Dzire and Mahindra Logan. The company is all set to localise the Etios by up to 90 percent from the current 70 percent.

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The other cars offered by TKM in India too have high localisation. The Toyota Innova, which is a multi-purpose vehicle, has a localisation of up to 65 percent while Toyota Corolla has 50 percent local content.

TKM has a target of selling 140,000 units in India in 2011and the Toyota Etios is likely to account for half of that. The carmaker is also going to come up with the hatchback version of the car by April this year. The Toyota Etios Liva hatchback will be up against new models like Ford Figo, Maruti Ritz, Fiat Grande Punto, Volkswagen Polo, Chevrolet Beat and Nissan Micra.