Indian Car Blog - Carazoo.com

Toyota has many plans for India. The Japanese car honcho is all set to launch the Prius in India early next year.

World’s numero uno car maker Toyota also plans to expand in the Indian car industry. It is planning to foray into the small car segment by 2011. Toyota has secured its ground in India with sedans and SUVs and its sales chart topper Innova MUV. And now, for the first time, the car giant is going to make inroads in the small car segment in India. For this, Toyota is bringing in its small car brand Daihatsu in India and India is going to be Toyota’s base for all of its future global small cars.

The upcoming Toyota small car will stand against the Maruti Suzuki Swift and the Hyundai i20. It will be positioned at the premium end of the small car market. The car will comply with needs and tastes of the Indian buyer.

It has been revealed that the Toyota small car will be within four metres in length and come with a 1.2-litre petrol engine. The company is planning to launch both the hatchback and sedan versions of the car. The sedan will come with a 1.5L engine and a 1.5-litre diesel engine may follow the petrol version. The base model of the car will also have options to select various high-end safety features like Anti Braking System (ABS).

Toyota is keen to give the proposed car a contemporary international look while keeping the price as low as possible without any compromise on quality. The company is looking at sharing components from other models with the proposed compact car to reduce the production cost.

The small car will also be at least 10 per cent more fuel-efficient than a similar-size competing car in the present Indian market. Moreover, Toyota will introduce the car with a four-cylinder engine that will be Bharat Stage IV emission norm compliant.

Toyota has a minimal market share of 3 per cent in India. It is evaluating to increase its market share by 2015. Toyota also expects that sales from India will contribute up to 4 per cent to its total global sales by 2015 on the back of its proposed small car launch.

With the launch of the Prius and the above mentioned upcoming small car, Toyota is looking to add another product to its portfolio. The company is looking to position this car between its proposed small car and the Innova. This car will be priced somewhere between Rs 6-8 Lakh.

This car model is likely to go on sale in the next two years. The all-new car will accommodate five-six persons comfortably and feature a sub 2.0-litre diesel engine. As Toyota Kirloskar Motors Limited wants to play safe with the new car and not affect Innova sales, the proposed new car is classified as “a ‘people mover’, not an SUV.”

The parent company has been evaluating certain models for India, including the Toyota Avensis Verso MPV and the Toyota Avanza for benchmarking purposes.

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