Seems like end of the road is near for Toyota India’s Etios model. First launched in December 2010, the sedan opened to a good start, albeit demand started falling after a while. Despite several facelifts, Etios has not been able to show any improvement in terms of sales and hence the company is planning to bring in a replacement. Moreover,majority of the sedan’s sales come from fleet operators, whereas there are less takers when it comes to individual buyers.
Reports in media indicate that Toyota Yaris Ativ will replace Etios sedan in India. The Yaris Ativ is essentially a sedan version of the Yaris hatchback and has been available for retail in Thailand since last two years. It is expected that Toyota will withdraw Etios from its India portfolio by 2020. Etios is probably the only sedan in the domestic market that fills the void between compact and C-segment sedans. Keeping this in mind, Toyota could either roll-out a larger sedan which will succeed Etios in the line-up, or trim the length to keep it under the sub-four-meter category. Check Out – Upcoming Toyota Cars In India
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With Yaris Ativ being considered for India, Toyota may drop plans to bring Vios. The Yaris Ativ is already available for sale in Thailand, where it is sold as a lucrative alternative to Suzuki Ciaz, Honda City and Nissan Sunny. All these models are also sold in India and if Toyota could achieve an aggressive pricing for the model, it could work well for the carmaker that has been struggling with Etios.
Under the hood, the Thai-specific Yaris Ativ gets a 87bhp, 1.2-litre, petrol engine, paired to a CVT auto box. The low displacing engine makes it suitable to be rolled out as a subcompact sedan model. If that happens, Yaris Ativ will pit against segment leader Maruti Dzire that recently took a leap into the third generation. Toyota could also add its 1.4-litre D4D engine to the India-bound Yaris which is available only with a petrol unit in Thai market. The 1.4-litre engine is available in two tunes, the 67bhp version powers Etios and the 89bhp version is used in Corolla Altis.
