Toyota Kirloskar Motors is struggling to tap the growing Indian car market. The company has asked Daihatsu to help in making affordable cars in India. In a surprising move, Toyota has imported the Aygo city car in the country for research and development purpose from Czech Republic, where its manufacturing centre is located.
The imported model was a five door version, measuring 3455mm in length and features 1.0-litre petrol engine. TKM is also contemplating a compact car for the Indian market, which is likely to be developed with the help of Daihatsu to keep its cost down. Keeping this in mind, the Aygo could be a perfect product for the market.
Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the new generation Toyota Aygo is more spacious than the predecessor. Under the bonnet is the 1.0-litre petrol motor that produces 68bhp of power and 95Nm of peak torque. A five-speed manual transmission comes as standard, while the European spec models also get an AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) with paddle shifters. This model is equipped with several high end safety and security features such as ABS with EBD, brake assist, curtain airbags, tyre pressure monitoring, and other features. However, this small car is unlikely to get such safety features if it comes to the Indian market.
Toyota India is aiming to launch a sub-4 lakh car in the country. If the company is aiming to bring the Aygo, TKM needs to highly localize the components such as the engine and gearbox to keep its cost down. However, the company might introduce the ABS and airbags as standard safety features.
