Tuesday, June 28, 2011

First look at Toyota Etios Liva

The Indian automobile market is expanding in a fast pace and the world's top automobile manufacturers are trying to find a place in India. Right from Aston Martin to Tata, every automobile manufacturer is targeting India as a potential automobile market. And, now the leading Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota has targeted the Indian middle class people. I once read in a magazine from an Toyota executive that Toyota will not manufacture or sell small segment cars in India. However, the scenario has changed and Toyota is facing tough competition from other players.

Inorder to compete in the small segment car market, Toyota yesterday has launched the all new Etios Liva. It is a “Q class” hatch back car with the following specifications.

Specifications and Features of Toyota Etios Liva


  • 1.2L 80PS DOHC Gasoline Engine
  • ABS with EBD
  • Flat type rear floor
  • 251L boot space
  • Dual front SRS Airbags
  • Sporty Aero package
  • 2 DIN DVD Audio with remote
  • Best in Class Cabin space

First look of Toyota Etios Liva

Exterior looks

On the very first look, Toyota Etios Liva captures every one's attention. It looks very cute. The front side of the Liva remembered me the new Honda City with its slight bump on the bonnet. However I like that design and this suits the car very well. The rear side of the car is also great with the spoiler on the top. The curvy looks on the sides of the car gives it an elegant look. Overall, when someone looks from the outside, they are sure to fall in love with the car. 

Interiors


There are few cars in the market in which the manufacturer concentrates a lot in the exterior looks but not in the interiors. Toyota did not make that mistake with the interiors of the Etios Liva. The interiors of the Liva looks stunning with the red and black color combination. And I would say that the dashboard is awesome with all the controls in the central console. Even the speedometer is located in the central console of the dashboard. And looking at the images of the Liva interiors, I feel that the leg space in the front would be comfortable whereas the rear side leg space would be little less. However, this statement of mine cannot be taken for granted until a test drive of Liva comes out. And also the quality of the interiors also cannot be commented up on until a hand on review of the Liva is out.

 

Available variants of the Toyota Etios Liva

Toyota has announced that the Toyota Etios Liva will be available only in Petrol. And the price ranges from Rs. 3.99 lakhs to Rs. 5.99 lakhs. Right now there are two variants of Liva are available.
J variant Liva – Starting at Rs. 3.99 Lakhs
G variant Liva – Starting at Rs 4.59 Lakhs

Comparison of Toyota Etios Liva with other hatch back cars


With already so many hatch back cars available in the Indian market, Toyota has to do something different to attract customers to stay alive in the small car segment market. I feel the Rs. 3.99 lakhs starting price is the trump card for a quality car maker like Toyota. Let us compare the price of various small segment cars in the market. 


Model Petrol(in Lakh Rs) Diesel (in Lakh Rs)
Chevy Beat 3.55 N/A
Ford Figo 3.59 4.58
Skoda Fabia 3.99 5.61
Toyota Liva 3.99 N/A
Maruti Ritz 4.02 4.84
Maruti swift 4.09 4.99
Hyundai i10 4.19 N/A
VW Polo 4.57 5.59
Courtesy : TOI 

So, there you go. The first look at the Toyota Etios Liva “Q Class” Hatch. I hope this information was useful about the car and I will try to post a full test drive review of Toyota Etios Liva as soon as possible.

Image courtesy : Yahoo

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