When one thinks of mass-produced cars for day-to-day use,
the first brand name that usually comes to mind is Toyota. Quality, durability,
efficiency, superb service and an undeniable trust factor are just a few
reasons why Toyota has cemented its place in the hearts and minds of people
across the world. Industry wide the Japanese giant has set benchmarks in many
aspects related to the cars. Toyota entered the Indian market in 1997 via a JV
with Pune based Kirloskar Group. It has been a force to be reckoned with ever
since. Year on year Toyota has been successfully scaling new heights in the
market with unmatched consistency. The beloved Toyota Corolla and the ever
reliant work horse, the Toyota Innova have played a very crucial role in
helping Toyota make its presence felt in India. Having a presence in quite a
few segments of the Indian market, Toyota yet does not have a good foothold in
the sedan (C-Segment). Competitors such as Honda, Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki,
Volkswagen etc. have taken advantage of that with successful products such as
City, Verna and Ciaz respectively.
Launched in 2010,
the Etios is the only offering in the sedan segment for India. When launched
was received well and seemed a good package. A reliable, practical vehicle with
lots of space; did not pick up the way Toyota would have imagined. An
unappealing design, lack of features, lack of modern technology and the
overwhelming success of the Honda City, Hyundai Verna led to the Etios going
down the pecking order. In another attempt to capture the C-segment market in
India, Toyota is going to launch its Vios sedan in 2017. The Toyota Vios goes
back to 2002, a product specifically developed for the emerging markets
(Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia etc.) was based on the Yaris
hatchback, has been very popular especially in the Asia Pacific region.
Currently sold globally in its 3rd generation, it continues the
‘luxury-sport’ design language followed by recent Toyota cars.
The word Vios
is derived from Latin means ‘to move forward’. Forward is exactly where
Toyota will be moving when they launch the Vios for India in 2017. The car has
all the necessary ingredients to make for a highly successful recipe in India.
For starters its design has evolved leaps and bounds when compared to the Etios
currently sold here. To be honest it does resemble the current generation
Toyota Corolla quite a bit, but that is not a bad thing as it looks great!
Expect the Vios to be powered by the same engines as the Etios, a 1.5L petrol
& 1.4L diesel. The gearbox; a 5-speed manual for both petrol as well diesel
and an automatic is likely to be introduced. With the Malaysian-spec Vios
bearing great resemble to the Toyota Corolla with respect to the interior as
well, expect the same to be carried forward to the Indian-spec model as well.
Expect it to be fully loaded with safety and comfort features such as Airbags,
Climate Control, Infotainment system with USB, AUX, Bluetooth connectivity,
Satellite Navigation etc. It would be unjust to forget the one thing which all
Toyota cars are known to provide………an abundance of cabin space! Toyota is also
looking at the feasibility of launching a Hybrid version of the Vios later on.
Keeping all this in
mind it is safe to assume that the Toyota Vios is a great package for India and
can surely give its competitors some stiff competition. With the sedan market
already having a lot of players in the market, the re-entry of Toyota makes it
an even better proposition for buyers. Indian customers love Toyota! It is a
fact that Toyota is well aware of. The Vios seems to tick all the boxes for
becoming hugely popular in India. It surely is one of the highly anticipated Toyotas
of recent times for India. We are quite confident of the Vios becoming a
favourite in India, are you?
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