India today set the stage for global car giants Toyota, Volkswagen and Honda to unveil to the world their strategy and models for the high-growth small-car market. The platform was the 10th Auto Expo being held in the national capital.
Small cars, which range from Maruti 800 to Hyundai i20, constitute over 78 per cent of the total car sales (1.5 million) in the country. India is one of the four key markets for global car makers’ small car manufacturing and exporting hub. The others are Brazil, Japan and Thailand.
Bangalore-based Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) today showcased its small car concept christened Etios, which would be launched in India by December this year. It would be available both in a hatchback as well as sedan version, and expected to be priced below or at par with Maruti Suzuki Dzire, the largest selling (over 8,000 per month) sedan in the entry-level segment. The entry price for a Dzire is Rs 5.5 lakh.
Hiroshi Nakagawa, managing director, TKM, said, “The car is not a copy of any European model. This is a newly developed car and the world has seen it first in India. This has marked the beginning of a new era for Toyota in India.”
TKM plans to produce over 70,000 Etios in the first year of its operations, which will help the Japanese giant to become a volume player in the Indian market, selling over 140,000 cars every year. The company has invested Rs 3,200 crore to set up a plant in Bangalore, which will produce the small car. It has taken 2,000 TKM engineers four years to build the Etios.
Taking them on is Europe’s largest car maker Volkswagen (VW). Unveiling the Polo 1.2 litre hatchback today, which is expected to commercially hit the roads in March, VW said it is working on a model that will be priced lower than the Polo. It could probably be its concept c
ar Up, which was showcased two years ago. VW has picked up a 19.9 per cent stake in Suzuki Motor Corporation and is also looking at joint development of small cars.
Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/global-compact-cars%5C-india-catwalk/381817/
Small cars, which range from Maruti 800 to Hyundai i20, constitute over 78 per cent of the total car sales (1.5 million) in the country. India is one of the four key markets for global car makers’ small car manufacturing and exporting hub. The others are Brazil, Japan and Thailand.Bangalore-based Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) today showcased its small car concept christened Etios, which would be launched in India by December this year. It would be available both in a hatchback as well as sedan version, and expected to be priced below or at par with Maruti Suzuki Dzire, the largest selling (over 8,000 per month) sedan in the entry-level segment. The entry price for a Dzire is Rs 5.5 lakh.
Hiroshi Nakagawa, managing director, TKM, said, “The car is not a copy of any European model. This is a newly developed car and the world has seen it first in India. This has marked the beginning of a new era for Toyota in India.”
TKM plans to produce over 70,000 Etios in the first year of its operations, which will help the Japanese giant to become a volume player in the Indian market, selling over 140,000 cars every year. The company has invested Rs 3,200 crore to set up a plant in Bangalore, which will produce the small car. It has taken 2,000 TKM engineers four years to build the Etios.
Taking them on is Europe’s largest car maker Volkswagen (VW). Unveiling the Polo 1.2 litre hatchback today, which is expected to commercially hit the roads in March, VW said it is working on a model that will be priced lower than the Polo. It could probably be its concept c
ar Up, which was showcased two years ago. VW has picked up a 19.9 per cent stake in Suzuki Motor Corporation and is also looking at joint development of small cars.Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/global-compact-cars%5C-india-catwalk/381817/
