Wednesday, July 06, 2011
By Pranjal Gera
Two more Toyota small cars to be launched in the India car market
Just after a few days of launch of Toyota Etios, newest small hatchback car in the Indian auto market, the Japenese auto giant Toyota have announced their plan to launch two new small cars in India. Toyota also plans to induct a new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in its Indian line up.
According to some company sources, Toyota is planning to partner with their Japanese counterparts Subaru, their sister company Diahatsu or with the French automakers Puegeot. Hiroji Onishi, the President of Toyota Motors Asia Pacific said to the reporters that the current models that they have in lined up in India are certainly not upto the demands coming from the market. He added that the Indian car market has potential for a car that is smaller and cheaper than the Toyota Liva, a car that is bigger than it and an SUV. He further said that the company has already planned a partnership in Europe with Peugeot and the company is looking at similar prospects with other companies like Subaru too.
Toyota further revealed that the small cars would specifically be produced for India keeping the demand arising from it in mind. However, they also said that their small car plans are not only for India but they wish to go global with it. Toyota said that there is a steeping demand from the world for small and fuel efficient cars.
Some of the popular hatchback models in the Indian auto market are Ford Figo, Maruti Swift, Hyundai i10, Chevrolet Beat and Volkswagen Polo. Apart from these popular models, cars going to hit the Indian roads this year are Chevrolet Beat Diesel, Maruti Cervo and New Ford Fiesta.
