Toyota gears up to launch Vios sedan in India next year

Japanese major Toyota is preparing to launch its Vios sedan in India by mid-2018. The company is targeting of Diwali 2018 launch and is working hard on localisation to be able to price the car competitively. This is essentially to take on its main rival, the extremely successful Honda City, in India's value-conscious market.

Toyota has a tough task on its hands. While the Innova MPV and Fortuner SUV – its two key growth drivers in India – average monthly sales of 6,000 and 2,000 units respectively, it has almost never had success with sedans or hatchbacks in India. The original Corolla, with its extremely comfortable back seat, upmarket interior and strong 1.8-litre engine, was something of a sensation when it was launched. But after that, real-world success in cars has eluded Toyota in this part of the world.

The Vios, however, could change all that. The Vios, which is sold in many Southeast Asian markets like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, is often positioned competitively against the Honda City. It is this ‘slightly down on the City position’ that Toyota is likely to adopt here in India as well. But does the Vios have what it takes to impress the Indian car-buying public?

First look at the Vios
First impressions are certainly positive. There’s an up-to-the-minute vibe and the nose, especially the headlight and grille combo, is extremely modern and in line with Toyota’s global models. Under the high-mounted grille is a very aggressive and sporty large anvil-shaped intake, finished in black. Full of slats that give it a unique look, this recently facelifted car also gets vertically aligned daylight running LEDs.  

The Vios' stance and the rest of the detailing aren’t as aggressive though. A prominent crease line runs all the way from the front wheel to the rear, the side skirt is hitched up over the rear wheel, and at the rear, there are inserts at the bottom of the bumper. The boot itself is large and practical, but not big enough to make it look disproportionate. The tail-lights, however, do look a touch oversized.

Dimensionally, the Vios is shorter than the City with a length of 4420mm compared to the Honda’s 4442mm, and the City has the longer wheelbase too. But like its sister car, the Etios, the Vios is wider at 1700mm, and that gives it an advantage.

The big challenge for Toyota, however, will be to get interior quality up to that of the Honda City. While the design is quite modern with the curved dash, integrated doorpads, the deep dish instrument cluster, many of the plastics are still quite hard, and details like the touchscreen and possibly climate control system have to be updated. Space and comfort, however, are quite impressive. The cabin is wide and the front seats are big. And there’s plenty of legroom and width at the rear as well.

The Vios will come powered by a 108hp version of the 1.5-litre petrol it currently sells in India. This DOHC 16-valve engine will get dual VVT-I or Toyota’s continuously variable valve timing, higher compression pistons and a more aggressive fuel delivery system. This should allow the Vios to enjoy strong performance.

With automatic transmission-equipped sedans seeing good sales, Toyota has also decided to launch the car with a CVT variant. The unit can be used in manual mode as well, with seven steps pre-selected.

The diesel version, however, hasn’t been signed off for India yet. Toyota could introduce the car with its 88hp 1.4 DDiS engine, currently under the hood of the Corolla. To spice things up, and charge a bit of a premium, it could also launch a TRD or sportier version of the car.

Toyota's sales in India (April-October 2017) 
Toyota Kirloskar Motor, which is in need to a fast-selling car to drive up numbers, has sold a total of 80,364 units in April-October 2017 (-3.91% YoY) and has a passenger vehicle market share of 4.21 percent, down on the 4.71 percent it had in April-october 2016.