Toyota launches Etios sedan at Rs 4.96 lakh
Photo: Toyota Etios sedan
Setting its eye on the Indian customers in the middle income group, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) launched the ‘Etios’ sedan, marking the company’s entry into the highly competitive B segment in India. The ‘Etios’ variants have aggressively been priced between Rs 4.96 lakh and Rs 6.86 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and the ‘Etios’ sedan has been developed specifically for Indian customers.
The Etios sedan will be available in four variants, J, G, V and VX. Etios offers features including innovative styling, best-in-class cabin and luggage space, superior comfort, impressive fuel efficiency and the legendary Toyota QDR, says the company. The bookings for the Etios sedan has started from December 1 and deliveries will begin in January 2011.
Etios is powered by a newly developed 1.5L, 2NR- FE, petrol, 4-Cylinder 16V DOHC engine coupled with a 5-speed manual transmission that produces high output for best-in-class driving performance. Maximum power is 90 PS (66 kW) @ 5600 rpm and 132 Nm (13.46 kg-m) @ 3000 rpm torque. Etios features fuel supply system of EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection). The Etios offers mileage of 17.6 kmpl which is ARAI tested. Etios sedans fuel tank capacity is 45 litres.
Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corporation and scion of Toyota’s founding family, launched Etios on his maiden visit to India after taking over as the head of the company.
Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD, TKM, said that the launch of Etios would enable Indian customers in the middle income group to own Toyota vehicle for the first time. He further said that production of the Etios would begin as planned at the company’s new plant, which, he claimed to be the most environmentally friendly automobile manufacturing plant in the country today.
Earlier this, Toyota had announced the company’s plans to locally produce engines and transmissions at the Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts in the third quarter of 2012 that would help increase the localisation content of the Etios. Toyota has roped in A R Rahman as the brand ambassador of Etios.
According to Yoshinori Noritake, chief engineer of the Etios, one of the strong points of the Etios sedan is its true sedan design – designed on a sedan platform and not as a hatch with a boot. More than 2000 engineers from Japan and India have worked in close collaboration over the last four years with a vision to offer Etios customers the ‘joy of ownership’ and ‘quality of life’.
Toyota will expand its service network to 150 dealerships by the end of this year. Toyota is planning to launch its hatchback version, Etios Liva, by April 2011. The company, however, did not reveal the product details of Etios Liva.
Exterior
A distinctive front grille with a smile line, sculpted surface and dynamic character-line in the front and rear, enhance the presence of the Etios. The rear has a fluent flowing C pillar, rounded end and three-dimensional combination lamps that enrich the vehicle’s exterior from different angles.
Interior
The Etios has class best cabin and luggage space of 595 litres, a spacious 13 litres cooled glove box, seven one litre bottle holders, mobile holder and many more such useful storage spaces inside the car.
Electric power steering for excellent maneuverability and tilt steering ensures a good ergonomic driving experience. The steering comes with audio controls for comfort at the driver’s fingertips.
A class-first ‘clean air filter’ which is standard across all grades for purified air in the cabin.
Safety
The Etios offers global safety standards namely energy absorbing body shell, driver & passenger air bags and ABS with EBD. Its centrally located combimeter reduces eye movement and hence the driver can concentrate on the road.
Etios has good ground clearance of 170mm and the sedan features under body protection to prevent damage to fuel and brake lines besides anti-corrosion steel sheets at areas prone to rusting and stone hits and chipping resistant paint on rocker mould & fender.
Check out these stories also:
- Toyota launches diesel Etios sedan and diesel Liva hatchback
- Toyota launches hatchback Etios Liva
- Etios, Etios Liva prop up Toyota’s September sales
- Toyota Etios Liva hatchback to launch on 27th June
- Etios, New Innova power Toyota to record 89% growth in January sales
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Toyota wanted to make Etios cheaper but they ended up making a cheap Car.
How to Reduce the Price of Etios
Style , Luxury, Comfort, Performance Safety
1)Luxury
We buy sedan for social status and the driving comfort and safety of passengers. But in Etios there is no luxury, We all have been to 5 Star Hotels and we know what is Luxury. The difference between budget Hotel and Star rated Hotels, similarly Budget Airlines and Star rated Airlines defines Luxury.
Etios does not have any Luxury feature which may be achieved by having-
AEORVM – Automatically Electronically adjusted Outside Rear view mirror.
ACC – Automatic Climate Control
Adjustable driver seat – Height
Wood grained instrument panel
Grip type door handles
High Quality seat and fabric.
Two tone beige color interior
2)Comfort
High levels of Noise in the passenger cabin from engine.
High levels of noise inside the passenger cabin from Road.
High levels of Vibration felt at steering, Instrument panel, arm rest, and seats.
Petrol engine sounds like Diesel fuel driven vehicle.
No speakers in the rear.
3)Performance
The weight of the vehicle is only 930Kg.
Low mileage irrespective of high performance engine.
Low mileage irrespective of light weight body.
4)Safety
Higher NVH levels can lead to fatigue and tiredness to passengers.
Higher vibration levels can make driver impulsive and lead to accidents.
Low weight of vehicle makes it unstable at high speeds.
5) Style
The car looks average from the looks and you have to pay to get the radiator chrome grill installed to make it stylish.
Toyota can not produce cars below INR 10 Lakh
Whenever we talk about the problems being faced in Etios, the dealership people answer that since the price of Etios is kept low Toyota could not provide any luxury feature and even compromised on the material used in making the car. The inteior itself is worth discriminating, the floor mat also looks thinner and of lower grade, the EPDM gaskets are removed from all the four doors.
The absence of gasket makes it convenient for insects, cockroaches, ants, spiders and lizards to get inside the vehicle as soon as the door is opened. The interior area of the cabin trapped between the frame and door is always dirty even though the vehicle is cleaned from outside.
After spending a hefty 7.5Lakh plus the Etios is not able to deliver the Comfort, luxury and the pride that comes with the brand. Etios model V and VX are disasters and there is hardly any significant luxury parameter to distinguish the two variants.
Etios fails to impress because of noise and vibrations from the engine caused due to poor quality of the engine and further reduction in the dampers used to suppress the sound and vibrations emanating from the Engine.
Even the new 2011 Etios engines generate so high levels of Noise and Vibratios at 2000 km, which makes me think that what will be the levels of these vibrations and noise after 1 year and driving vehicle for more than 20000km. The noise and vibrations can also grow exponentially. If a new vehicle is producing irritating noise and vibrations then this will get worse with regular use of Etios because of road conditions and normal wear and tear and ageing of vehicle.
Are we buying Etios because it is cheaper?
No certainly not. We are buying because of the brand and trust associated with Toyota.
Toyota has made Etios Cheap in Quality in an attempt to make it Cheaper.
The price of Toyota is not determined by the Indian people. Indians were looking at reliable car in the
segment of INR 5-8 Lakh but with very standards of comfort and quality.
The cost cutting is very much evident as no Luxury feature is present in the car and even the basics of designing a good vehicle have been ignore by compromising in using good quality material to make the interior passenger cabin comfortable and vibration free.
Like I am facing with the problem of intensive vibrations and oscillations in my new Etios 2011 model and when approached by the Toyota persons they initially inspected the Etios and made observations by recording the vibrations on the digital camera and also agreed that there is a problem with your Etios and then later negated the problem by saying that they inspected some more Etios and found the same problem with other Etios as well. And now they could hardly do anything as this problem is common to all Etios and this is all Toyota can offer to them because Toyota has launched this vehicle at lower price.
Etios customers are always made quite by saying that this is all they can get at this price. Toyota personnel are trying to convince customers that since they have paid less they can not get all comfort and performance like their other vehicles.
In an attempt to reduce price the gaskets are also removed In Etios which makes the dust and dirt trapped in between the door and body and also make room for lizards, insects, cockroaches etc to get inside the door and body and they can easily enter inside as soon as the door is opened. These gaskets would have not costed more than INR 4000 for all 4 doors.
The reduction in the quality of dampers and insulating material has made possible all the oscillations from the engine to get inside the passenger cabin and create nuisance for the driver.
Human vibration is defined as the effect of mechanical vibration on the human body and it has long been recognised that the effects of direct vibration on the human body can be serious. It can can lead to blurred vision, loss of balance, loss of concentration, etc. In some cases, certain frequencies can permanently damage internal body organs. However, during our normal daily lives we are exposed to vibration of one kind or another, for example, in buses, cars and trains. Human vibration can be pleasant or unpleasant and we try to avoid exposing ourselves to unpleasant vibration such as travelling on bumpy roads. There are two main types of human vibration – whole-body vibration and hand-arm vibration. A person driving a vehicle is subjected to whole-body vibration which can disturb the central nervous system. Symptoms of this disturbance usually appear during, or shortly after, exposure in the form of fatigue, insomnia, headache and shakiness. Many people have experienced these nervous symptoms after they have,for example, completed a long car journey. However, the symptoms usually disappear after a period of rest.
In India there are two very tough competitors Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai and we have definitely owned and driven their vehicle at one point of time in our family . Maruti and Hyundai also sell vehicles from starting INR 2L to 25L and we have always experienced that for them each car is pride and they give full service and attention to each category customer. Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai have tried to provide maximum features in each vehicle they have sold and maintained quality in all their newly launched vehicles. There is no disparity among different vehicles and customers. Each customer is given due respect.
Strangely but true Toyota people try to escape the flaws in Etios by merely giving the excuse that it is priced less and that is why the problems are there. This is really insulting for the customer who has spent all his hard earned money for the Toyota brand.
Please understand that I have however spent 7.5 Lakh on procuring this vehicle and this is no way lower price that I have paid for buying Etios. I am a middle class person and I can not afford to sell this vehicle and look for another vehicle.If Toyota is facing any quality issues with the Etios they should admit it as they have done it gracefully in other parts of the world.
There is one more fact that all other Toyota vehicles were developed in Japan and have been launched worldwide in many countries and have undergone five or more than 5 modifications and in Toyota term it is called as generation which is mentioned in case of Corlla History on Toyota bharat website. Each generation is of approximately 5 years starting from 1966 -2011.
This is one of the reasons for Etios to fail because Etios is raw vehicle and it requires 2-3 modifications/generations before the modifications can be adopted. We will have to wait till then.
But at the end of the day as a consumer I feel cheated by Toyota that after paying 7.5 Lakh also I am not getting the comfort.
[...] of the Etios Liva, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) launched the diesel variants of its entry-level Etios sedan and Etios Liva hatchback in India on Friday. Etios Diesel is priced between Rs 6.44 lakh – [...]
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