Toyota India may come out with a diesel version of its upcoming compact car, Etios, to make a mark in the Indian small car segment. During the Delhi Auto Expo and at other events, the company received lot of customer queries regarding a diesel engine for the car. Considering the response, Toyota is also looking at bringing out a diesel version of the Etios, but nothing has been finalised yet. Commercial production of the Etios will begin at the company’s second plant in Bangalore from December this year and the car will be formally launched during the first quarter of 2011. The company will bring out the petrol hatchback variant of the car with a 1.2 litre engine and the sedan variant with a 1.5 litre engine.
The hatchback will compete with Maruti Swift, Hyundai i20 petrol and Volkswagen Polo, the sedan version will be positioned along Maruti DZire and Tata Manza.” The cars are priced between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 6.75 lakh. Etios will have a localisation rate of 70% in its component parts. The company’s second Rs 3,000 crore plant at Bangalore will be entirely dedicated to production of the Etios. However, the car enngine will be imported from Japan. The Bangalore facility will have an initial capacity of 70,000 units annually. The company is also going ahead with expansion of its dealership network to prepare for the upcoming launch of the compact car.