This is the Toyota Etios concept, which shows a new small car for emerging markets.
The sub-four metre Etios was unveiled at today's New Delhi motor show and is reported to be 90 per cent production ready. It will go on sale in India at the end of this year.
However, it won't be a Nano rival, because it's set to cost around $10,000 (£6000). Instead, it will challenge one of India's other best-selling cars, the Maruti Swift. To this end, Toyota has put an emphasis on providing a larger and better quality interior than the Swift's.
The Etios is based on an all-new platform, codenamed EFC 800 L, and Toyota is showcasing both the hatch and saloon body styles in Delhi. The latter is set to go on sale first, followed three months later by the hatch.
Toyota wants a gradual ramp-up in production to ensure that there is no compromise on its quality and hence wants the hatch, which will sell in larger volumes, to come later.
Toyota is understood to have squeezed out costs to ensure that the Etios is as price-competitive as possible. That means limited sound-proofing, a hard but durable interior, basic seats and one windscreen wiper.
The Etios will come with two engine options: 1.2 and 1.5-litre DOHC petrol engines. Plans to offer a 1.4-litre diesel powerplant have been put on hold.
It will be sold from the end of 2010 in markets including India, Russian and South America, and it is likely to be built at Toyota’s new Indian factory from late 2010, with production also earmarked for Brazil in 2011.
Toyota is hoping to sell 70,000 examples of the car in India in the first year, with a gradual increase in production from there on.
A Toyota spokesman said that there are no plans to adapt and sell the car in Europe.
Thanks to: Autocar
