Friday, July 08, 2011
By Pranjal Gera
Toyota new car between Etios and Corolla soon
A new car could be launched between Etios sedan and Corolla very soon by the Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) in the Indian Car market which would compete with Honda City, Maruti SX4 and Hyundai Verna.
Hiroshi Nakagawa, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar said in an interview to Financial Chronicle that the company is studying the option to launch a new variant which would be classified in the middle of Etios sedan and Corolla. The scope and the priority order are also under observation.
A total new platform is generated for the new car. However another surprising note by the company to Financial Chronicle reports that they have no recent plans to roll out any new vehicle and they will simply improve the existing line-up of the Toyota Etios Liva hatchback along with Etios Sedan.
At First Global, auto analyst and expert, Mitul Shah enlightened that Toyota Kirloskar Motor has scope to launch a new car coming with a price tag of Rs 8-11 lakh and would provide a stiff competition to Honda City, Maruti Suzuki SX4 and Hyundai Verna. Adding further he suggested that with the launch between the two Sedans, Toyota will have an advantage competing along the car manufactures ranging from hatchback to sedan versions.
According to market analysts Toyota’s domestic portfolio allows space for a car between Toyota Etios and Toyota Corolla Altis. The current market price tag for the Toyota Etios Sedan is from Rs 4.99 lakh to Rs 6.93 lakh while Toyota Corolla Altis is priced between Rs 10.47 lakh to Rs 14.68 lakh, by Toyota Kirloskar Motor TMK under ex- showroom, Mumbai.
The new largest segment in the sedan is the mid- size sedan having dimensions between 4.25 metres to 4.5 metres in length having amazing sales figure of over 25,600 units and has seen a rise of 4 per cent within April- May 2011. While Hyundai Motor’s Verna has the highest sale numbers of 6,211 cars at this time span.
Looking at the current scenario by the termination of this Financial Year there is an expected rise of 10-12 percent in the sedan segment according to a senior analyst working with a mid-sized domestic brokerage, Mumbai oriented.
A whooping 8,000 units were sold by the Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) only with the initial two months of this current fiscal year as told by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers’ (SIAM). Mr. Nakagawa adding further boasts the role of Etios Live and Etios Sedan in contribution to these sale figures.
Toyota Motor’s entered Indian Autocar Industry in 1997 and it recently increased its presence in market with the launch of Toyota Etios Live in the hatchback car segment, which is also the cheapest car produced by the Japanese Car maker. Thus in the hatchback segment Toyota Liva would help generate profits for Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) which is based on Etios platform. These days the hatchback segment is considered as the largest and the most profitable by any car manufacturer as it helps generate more genre of customers.
