I spent half of Sunday morning attending Toyota’s auto exhibition, showcasing all its range of luxury cars and SUVs, at Chennai Trade Centre. Main attractions at the show were Toyota’s yet to be launched small car and sedan, called Etios Hatchback and Etios Sedan respectively.
Etios Sedan will house a 1.4 litre petrol engine, has a very impressive dashboard (click on the pictures to enlarge and take a closer look). However, be warned that this is a concept version. Commercial variant may look different.
Etios Hatchback will house a 1.2 litre petrol engine. Nothing exciting about these 2 cars, which will be launched first in India ahead of the world. (Expected to hit showrooms early 2011, prices are not yet decided) The wheels and interiors were cool, but the representative there was very clear that this is only a concept model and the mass produced variants may not be 100% same. Just wondering why are they fooling us by setting wrong expectations.
Next attraction was the new Prius Hydrid, the eco friendly green car. Prius has cool interiors and exteriors, but price tag will deter people. At a cost of Rs 30 lakhs, Toyota Prius Hybrid is nothing but unaffordable. (Civic Hybrid was priced at 22 lakhs, thanks to 100% custom duty, later when Honda offered discounts to the tune of 70%, Civic Hydrid got sold out in no time)
Etios Sedan will house a 1.4 litre petrol engine, has a very impressive dashboard (click on the pictures to enlarge and take a closer look). However, be warned that this is a concept version. Commercial variant may look different.
Etios Hatchback will house a 1.2 litre petrol engine. Nothing exciting about these 2 cars, which will be launched first in India ahead of the world. (Expected to hit showrooms early 2011, prices are not yet decided) The wheels and interiors were cool, but the representative there was very clear that this is only a concept model and the mass produced variants may not be 100% same. Just wondering why are they fooling us by setting wrong expectations.
Next attraction was the new Prius Hydrid, the eco friendly green car. Prius has cool interiors and exteriors, but price tag will deter people. At a cost of Rs 30 lakhs, Toyota Prius Hybrid is nothing but unaffordable. (Civic Hybrid was priced at 22 lakhs, thanks to 100% custom duty, later when Honda offered discounts to the tune of 70%, Civic Hydrid got sold out in no time)
Only in Prius, the toyota-logo is given a blue ambi light
Next to Toyota Prius was Toyota Camry Hybrid, this hasn’t been launched in India yet and hence price is undecided. Camry interiors were pretty dull compared to other cars around.
I was under the impression that Corolla is also available in Diesel, but the visit confirmed that it is not. Corolla Altis top end variant costs Rs 15.5 lakhs
Next to Toyota Prius was Toyota Camry Hybrid, this hasn’t been launched in India yet and hence price is undecided. Camry interiors were pretty dull compared to other cars around.
I was under the impression that Corolla is also available in Diesel, but the visit confirmed that it is not. Corolla Altis top end variant costs Rs 15.5 lakhs
Had good time taking close look at these cars. Standby for part 2 of this post, for the impressive range of Toyota SUVs- the Land Cruiser, Land Cruiser Prado and the Fortuner, (FYI, they cost Rs 95, 60 and 21.5 lakhs respectively) as well as some more photos of the event.
2012 Update: Drove Etios Petrol for about 300+kms. Read detailed review
Looks like there are many small cars waiting to hit the market, from almost all the leading manufacturers.
ReplyDeleteBut as you said, there is no point in having the concept cars in the showroom, when the actual variant is not going to be the same!
This definitely is misleading
Ram
yes. Remember the A-star concept car photos? Actual car is totally different.
ReplyDeleteIndian car market is a roll right now with many new start, because every second or third day. Most major automakers are trying to introduce new models around so after Christmas, shoppers are waiting for these opportunities to go to your nearest dealer and take a car for himself.
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