subject: Toyota Etios Launched In India [print this page] December 1, 2010 will be the day Toyota, the worlds largest auto maker, will launch the Etios sedan in Bangalore, India which will followed by Etios hatchback in March 2011. Sales of Toyota Etios petrol sedans would commence from December and the cars are expected to be delivered to customers by January 2011.
Etios sedan will cost at range of at a Rs. 6 lakh to Rs. 7 lakh price tag. . This will compete with the Tata Indigo CS, Maruti Swift Dzire, Tata Indigo Manza, Chevrolet Aveo and the Ford Fiesta. Toyota holds a tremendous brand recognition and reputation in India.
Managing Director of Toyota India, Hiroshi Nakagawa said that Etios sedan will also compete against Maruti Swift, Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai i20. This will have equipment levels and interior comfort at par or more than that of the competition.
Toyota studied that Indian customers are cost conscious, and will localize almost 70% of the components in the Etios but of course, it will not compromise on quality and safety. They have been running Toyota Q Promise advertising campaign in India, to build up the launch of the petrol Etios sedan.
Last year, Toyota launched the Fortuner and created quite a stir in the 44 premium SUV segment. The company, in fact, had underestimated demand for the SUV, leading to huge production backlogs, as demand exceeded supply. Learning from that experience, they are now ready to launch the new Etios and it will be a large volume of products.
The brand ambassador of this is the Indian film music composer A.R. Rahman as part of their marketing strategy. Toyota is investing Rs. 3,200 crore in the production and marketing of the Etios. In addition to the sales in India, the car, which is Toyota's biggest project, the car will roll out of the Bangalore plant and will also be offered for sale in China, Russia and South America. The company already has Toyota Corolla, Toyota Innova, Toyota Camry and Toyota Innova along with newly launched SUV, Toyota Fortuner, in its portfolio.
