The JV Toyota Kirloskar motor is delivering a diesel version of Etios [images], so only to insist its marked presence in the small car segment in India. The result is the outcome of stupendous enquiries for the diesel version poured at the Delhi Auto Expo this year beginning. However, a final word is yet to be made, said the company’s Deputy MD. With Etios, the company wants to make a breakthrough in the small car segment. The commercial production will commence from December 2010 at its Bangalore plant so as to make the formal launch in the Q1 of 2011. There will be two variants – a hatch back with 1.2 lit petrol engine and a sedan with 1.5 lit petrol engine.
Though the price is yet to be finalized (the approximate price is in the range of Rs4 lakhs for hatchback and Rs6.75 lakh for sedan,) the position of the car (hatchback) will be on the lines of Maruti Swift [images], Hyundai i20 petrol [images], VW Polo [images] and the sedan will be the counterpart of Maruti D’zire [images] and Tata Manza [images]. There will be 70% localization of the car in terms of components. While the engine will be imported from Japan, the Bangalore unit ( at an annual capacity of 75000) will exclusively make this Etios, at an investment of Rs3000 crore. The annual capacity will be 70000 units and the similar number of cars will be rolled down in the first 12 months. In the meantime, there will be a focus on the export market. To meet the customer service well, the dealer network is to be expanded- 150 dealers from the existing 98.