Keeping the price conscious market of India in mind, Toyota developed the Toyota Etios Liva and Toyota Etios sedan after a lot of research and studies. The Etios series has increased the sales volumes for Toyota India significantly as it did not have any small cars before this duo in India. Despite the fact that they could not do as well in the personal vehicle space when compared to the overall sales volume of the segment, the commercial vehicle segment welcomed the cars cordially.
The car with its affordable price tag is a fair option and Toyota Kirloskar brought it to fill in the gap for an entry level car. But there is still another gap left in Toyota’s portfolio which badly needs a C-segment sedan to compete with cars such as Hyundai Verna Fluidic, Skoda Rapid and Nissan Sunny. As per the latest news, Toyota is finally working on a all new C-segment model. Believing in a story by Gustavo Ruffo and Lucas Litvay featured in Car and Driver Magazine Brazil August edition, Toyota is silently working on a premium sedan and hatchback duo based on Etios platform.
At present Toyota is busy promoting the Etios brand in Brazil and is also said to be working on the new models. The new sedan will not be launched before 2014. The renderings of the upcoming sedan suggest that it is inspired from the Dear Qin concept cars showcased at the Beijing Auto Show. These concept cars are two of the eight models the company plans to build for emerging markets.
On the technical note, in Brazil the car will only get a 1.5 litre petrol engine while for the Indian market, where diesel cars are the in-thing right now, the company will most likely carry all the engine options from the Etios to the new car. So we could get 1.5 litre and 1.2 litre units for petrol variants while a 1.4 litre unit will be there for diesel line-up.
If looks is your primary concern, then I am sure this car will impress you and make you forge the Etios. It does not have a fluidic design as seen on Hyundai models and is rather edgy which has a sporty appeal. All in all we are eagerly waiting to hear the official word from Toyota on this car. So stay tuned to Car Blog India for more updates.
