Toyota Etios, Already a Phenomenon in India

Fifteen days have passed since Toyota presented the Etios in India and opened the order books and the sedan is already recording a major success in the country. No less than 12,000 buyers have chosen the new Toyota as their next car, a number that exceeds Toyota's expectations and make the Japanese carmaker hope for even greater sales in the year to come.

In fact, the Japanese manufacturer is already hoping to double its sales in India in the next 12 months to reach 145,000 units and, as far as the local models go, the Etios is likely to represent almost a half of this.

“India is a key market for our overall strategic growth plans, and the launch of the Etios is definitely a milestone not only for Toyota in India but for Toyota globally," Mr. Akio Toyoda, President TMC, said earlier this month when the company officially introduced the car in India.

"We at Toyota believe, ‘the road makes the car’ and the Etios is a product of real-world testing on roads across India. Our testing has covered a hundred thousand kilometers on every kind of road that Indian drivers encounter, from Kolkata to Mumbai, from the Himalayan foothills to the tip of the Indian peninsula,” Toyoda also said.

The Etios sedan (the hatchback is scheduled for launch in 2011), is powered by a 1.5-liter inline-four that produces 89 hp and 97 pound-feet of torque. The engine comes mated to a five-speed manual transmission, which helps it achieve 17.6 kilometers per liter, or roughly 41.2 miles per gallon.