Toyota Etios – teased ahead of India launch +video

The Toyota Etiso debuts in Delhi this week

Toyota has been doing little teases on a new cheap saloon for emerging markets, and we know the plan is to launch the Toyota Etios on the Indian public on Friday (6th January).

We also know that the Etios is Toyota’s cheap, mass-market car with which they hope to take on the current market leaders Suzuki (oh, alright, strictly speaking it’s Maruti in India – but it’s the same thing) and it’s going to get the 1.4 diesel out of the Yaris and probably a 1.2 petrol as well.

The Etios will appeal to the rising wealth of middle-class India. It’s not aimed at the same super-cheap mass market as the Nano – pitched as it is at around $10,000 – but will still be quite frugal by Western standards, with limited soundproofing  and a plastic-trimmed interior with hard-wearing materials.

Toyota plan to offer the Etios as a Saloon or hatchback, but it will be the saloon that comes to market first late in 2010. Once the Etios is up and running, production will start on the hatch and also be sold in Russia and South America. Production is also pencilled in for Brazil at some point.

Judging by the video Toyota obviously consider the Etios to be at least as important as the second coming. Did the director get to see the car, or was he just told ‘It’s the most important car we’re going to build this Decade’? It probably is; but the Video is a bit OTT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9jtFZP-tKY

By Cars UK