Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd, the Indian unit of Toyota Motor Corporation on Tuesday unveiled its small concept car, Etios, at the Auto Expo in New Delhi.

This will be Toyota’s launch pad for the Indian small car market in the days to come. This global car as Hiroshi Nakagawa, Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar says will enter the mass volume segment. Toyota had invested about Rs 3,200 crore to set up its second manufacturing facility in Bangalore to bring out the car on roads by early 2011.

“With the introduction of the Etios we will enter the mass volume segment. We are looking at a sales volume of 70,000 units in the first year,” he said.

“After the slowdown, we are now in a difficult situation and we are trying to achieve constant recovery. The Indian market is very important and big for Toyota and it is expected to grow up to four million units by 2015,” Toyota Motor Corp Vice Chairman Kazuo Okamoto said on the sidelines of the Auto Expo.
The company would launch both hatchback and sedan under the Etios series with 1.2 litres and 1.5 litres petrol engines respectively.

Toyota had earlier said that it would start selling its first small car in India by late-2010.
Toyota Kirloskar, which is 89 per cent owned by Toyota and the remainder by India’s Kirloskar group, currently produces the Innova multipurpose vehicle, the Corolla sedan and the Fortuner SUV at its factory outside Bangalore.

It also imports and markets the Land Cruiser and the newly launched Land Cruiser Prado SUVs, as well as the Camry sedan.