Toyota,the Japanese automaker is undergoing a study on feasibility of manufacturing the diesel variant of its Etios model by taking into account the rising fuel costs and the customer preference for diesel cars.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor Vice President,Mr.Sailesh Shetty quoted that well that (introducing diesel variants) is very much on the cards.. first they will establish theirselves in the market with Etios and Liva.. then based upon demand they will look into it.
Shetty said they would also consider manufacturing diesel engines for Liva once their engine plant is operational.He also said right now they are importing diesel engines from Japan.They are setting up the engine plant in Bangalore.Based on demand,they will produce diesel engines (for Liva and Etios models).
Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s Deputy Managing Director (Commercial),Mr.Shekar Viswanathan said the waiting period of Etios has been considerably reduced.Now they can handover the vehicle within 30 days as the waiting period has been reduced.
He added that Toyota is also working on increasing localisation level of Etios and Liva models from the present 70 per cent to 90 per cent.He also said since the nationwide launch of Liva,the company has already registered over 1,000 bookings.The company currently sells premium sedan Altis ,SUV Innova and premium SUV Fortuner in petrol as well as diesel variant in India.Besides that,Toyota also retails Camry, Prado, Land Cruiser and Prius as Completely Built Units in India.