According to a report on Economic Times today, Toyota Kirloskar Motor's Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Sandeep Singh, has confirmed that the Etios would be exported to Bangladesh. The Etios was launched in Nepal last month and is also being shipped to South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Toyota and many other manufacturers who operate large production plants are forced to revisit their strategies as the economic slowdown has adversely impacted car sales. The rupee depreciation and the demand shortage has caused the auto industry to review export and localization plans.
A TKM source told Indian Autos Blog that the Toyota Etios sedan is very likely to be exported to Indonesia in small numbers, in the following months. The Etios hatchback, known as the Etios Valco, is being produced locally from the Karawang plant in West Java. Since there is very poor demand for sedans from private buyers, plans for the three-box were put on the back burner.
At least initially, the Etios sedan will be shown to fleet operators as an alternative to the Thai-made Vios sedan which is in limited supply.
The Etios sedan manufactured in India gets a 1.5-liter petrol engine that's good for 90PS. Though a 1.4-liter diesel engine is also available for export, it is not likely to feature in the consignments to Indonesia, which is a pure petrol market.
Meanwhile in Bangladesh, the official distributor for Toyota cars, Navana Limited, is teasing the Yaris sedan (Vios) on its website and Facebook page using edited photographs. The launch date is yet to be announced, but social media fans expect the car to be on the market in the weeks ahead.
[Source - Economictimes.indiatimes.com]
