Toyota will launch facelifted versions of the Etios sedan and the Etios Liva hatchback by the end of the month. It is being said that a total of 118 changes are going to be made by Toyota to the two cars. The Etios siblings failed to set the sales charts on fire mainly due its bland styling and lack of quality in the interior department. The plastic and upholstery quality plus the equipment level left a lot to be desired and caused many potential customers to shy away to other cars. Now Gearheads have posted a video on YouTube which shows some of the changes on the Etios.
The Etios and Etios Liva get a few changes to the exterior and a host of upgrades to the interior to make it more appealing. They will get new headlamp and tail lamp design with sleeker outside rear view mirrors with integrated indicators. The interior now gets a sea of beige in an attempt to make it feel more upmarket. The quality of plastic too seems to be better. The centrally placed speedometer and tachometer though stays put.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBlvLp2O5l0 540 375]
The Toyota Etios twins get a new music system with a touch screen display and possibly addition of Bluetooth, USB and CD player. It definitely seems more up-market than the current system. The garish red and grey upholstery is gone and is replaced with brown and beige on the seats as well as door panels. The door gets new silver coloured trim which does look classy. The seats themselves are no longer the thin, cheap single piece ones with integrated headrests. The facelift ones will gets adjustable headrests. Toyota has also used hydraulic mounts on the engine to cut NVH levels and the suspension has been tweaked to offer a better ride. The Etios now gets 15-inch wheels.
There is addition of a few chrome trims too on the dashboard and centre console of the Etios twins. A classy black and chrome gear knob replaces the tacky red and grey one. So Toyota seems to have made quite an effort in improving their entry level cars which failed to impress due to their underwhelming quality. The facelifted Etios vehicles definitely seem to address a few issues and complaints received from customers. We have to see whether this facelift turns the table for the Japanese company in India.
