There is no questioning that the Etios twins have been doing way below the company’s expectations in the market for a while now. After the initial euphoria, the sales of the cars came down, thanks to the Etios’ and Liva’s interior quality which is unlike a typical Toyota.
The unexciting design has also done its part in pulling the Etios twins’ popularity down and the Japanese car maker has constantly been updating the cars to pick up some sales. Despite that, the sales of both the cars have remained below average and Toyota has finally decided to give its entry level sedan and hatchback a thorough refresh.
Previous updates on the Etios twins:
- Toyota quietly upgrades Liva with beige interiors
- Toyota Etios, Liva get power steering on base variants
- GOW Exclusive: Toyota Etios gets beige interiors
Thanks to one of our friends/reader from Goa, we’ve got our hands on these pictures of the updated cars, parked at a dealer yard. The source of these pictures tells us that the company plans to do a silent launch for the Etios refresh on the 10th of this week.
Externally, the car now looks similar to the Etios that is sold in the Brazilian market. You get an updated radiator grille, new bumpers, new headlamps and a redesigned cluster with clear-lens tail-lamps. A welcome addition is of the new ORVM’s with integrated blinkers and a new Metallic Grey shade, which we think suits the car well.
The company had introduced beige interiors on both the cars in October last year and the updated models retain that. The plastic quality seems to have been improved as well and the music system now gets Bluetooth with USB & Aux-in capibility on the top-end variants.
The seats now come with adjustable head-rests at the front and you now get chrome inserts on outside door-handles and gear-knob surrounds on higher trim-levels. Sadly, the rear headrests are still not adjustable but Toyota seems to have increased them in height, for better support.
While we haven’t driven the car as yet, our source tells us that Toyota has worked immensely on the NVH levels of the Etios and the car is now much quieter on the inside. This was a major issue on the outgoing car and we are happy to see Toyota take feed-back seriously from its customers.
In all, our friend claims that more than 100 changes have been made on the updated Etios range and the company expects the customers to appreciate them through sales figures. While we aren’t expecting a price hike from the company at the launch, Toyota may increase the prices of the Etios, once sales gather pace. The company had recently started local assembly of the 1.5 litre petrol unit and gearbox, which should increase margins for the company on Petrol variants.
To us, the refresh seems quite promising and we think Toyota has finally hit the spot in terms of positioning its entry level line-up. Expect some good deals on the outgoing car till stocks last with Toyota dealers.
Stay tuned to us for more on the pricing of the car on its launch!
