With the advent of Motor sports such as Volkswagen Polo cup, Mahindra Great Escape and the recent introduction of F1 in India, many car makers now want to highlight their motor sporting side with panache in India. The sudden interest of the common man in the world of motor sports in India has actually opened up many avenues to the car makers plying in India.
Yesterday we had reported that Nissan Motor Co. made an announcement that it was willing to tap the increasing popularity of motor sports activity in India and therefore is contemplating to introduce its motor sports arm, Nissan Motor-sport International Co (NISMO) in India.
Likewise, Toyota, another Japanese auto giant also plans to bring its in-house performance tuning shop – TRD (Toyota Racing Development) in India in early 2012. Before doing so, the company will showcase its entire TRD range in the forthcoming Delhi Auto Expo next month. TRD is also involved in motor sports and offers accessories and performance parts such as suspension kits, superchargers, brake pads, sport exhausts for most Toyota models like the Corolla, Camry, Land Cruiser and Fortuner.
Toyota also is planning to come out with Toyota Etios Cup on the lines of the Volkswagen Polo cup. This will be essentially a single make racing series. Through this Toyota not only will be exploring its racing credentials but also testing the Etios in the longer run. It must be noted that the Etios twins are the product exclusively made for India after years of market research and product development.
The Toyota Etios Cup probably would come to existence in mid 2012 and has zeroed in on tree tracks already such as Budd International circuit, Coimbatore and Chennai Racing track. Though the stock Toyota Etios will be used in the event, the cars will certainly be stripped down and re-built by the customers/Teams for the series.
However, unlike the Polo R cup, this racing series will be entirely funded by Toyota and will have about 25 to 30 cars. The company is busy getting all the FIA approvals for this racing series.
