Wednesday, July 20, 2011
By Pranjal Gera
Toyota from Sedan to Hatchback
The World’s largest carmaker Toyota has a market share of 5% in India, now they are planning to double the share by 2015.The company has placed its position strong in the Indian market in terms of pricing. The hatchback Toyota Etios Liva, priced between 3.99 lakhs-5.99lakhs (ex showroom Delhi) has recorded 3,500 bookings within a fortnight of its launch.
Hiroji Onishi, President of Asia Pacific Region accepts that India plays an important role in Toyota’s global growth. The company has ambitious plans for its new hatchback Toyota Etios in Indian market; it will also be sold in other emerging markets. The Toyota Etios car bound to make dent in similar markets.
After getting a fair amount of success in SUV’s like Prado and Land Cruiser, Toyota is changing its plans for Indian market by rolling out the hatchback cars like Etios and Liva. Toyota hopes to grab a market in emerging economies-Russia, Brazil, and Mexico in near future.
Onisha, the chief architect of the company’s Asia strategy feels that the market is divided into two segments, the lower end and the higher end segment. The compact SUV’s according to Onisha’s the key to sell these cars among the young customers.
Some of the popular hatchback models in the Indian auto market are Ford Figo, Maruti Swift, Hyundai i10, Chevrolet Beat and Volkswagen Polo. Apart from these popular models, cars going to hit the Indian roads this year are Chevrolet Beat Diesel, Maruti Cervo and Honda Brio.