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Toyota Etios hatch and sedan off to South Africa, launch on May 21

Japanese car maker will be launching Toyota Etios sedan and hatchback in South Africa soon. Some of the early details about the Etios hatchback and its models that will be introduced there have come up. It is expected that the Toyota Etios will be launched there on May 21. This will be the entry-level car for Toyota in South Africa and is expected to be priced attractively to make it more appealing to the car buyers there. The Toyota Etios sedan and hatchback (Toyota Etios Liva in India) models will be exported from India. Toyota is expected to price the Etios hatchback at R110 000 (Rs 7.28 lakh).  

It is expected that the Japanese small car Etios will be able to woo the South Africans the same way that it did in India. Notably, the Etios hatchback became an instant hit in India with exceptional sales in its early days. It is due to the Etios hatchback and sedan that the Japanese carmaker was able to bear the pangs of earthquake and Tsunami in Japan and the consequent outages. Back in India, the Etios Liva hatchback has given tough time to Maruti Swift, Ford Figo, Nissan Micra, Skoda Fabia and others. While the Toyota Etios sedan has been a close competitor of Maruti Swift Dzire, Honda City and others.  

As per the SA media reports, in South Africa Toyota will be offering Etios hatchback in two models viz. Etios Xi and XS. Both these trims are expected to be powered by a 66kW engine that has a peak torque output of 132 Nm. Anti Lock Braking is expected to be standard on the Etios hatch along with air conditioning, electric power steering. Keeping safety at a priority level, Toyota will also be offering dual front airbags as part of the standard equipment. The Etios XS model will have an array of add on features compared to the Xi model. It will have some cosmetic features such as colored grille, chrome accents and body colored door handles. Besides, it will also have central locking and power windows.