To been green in India doesn’t come cheap. Toyota just launched its world renouned Prius Hybrid at the Delhi expo 2010. It will be available for sale from March with a price tag of Rs. 26.55lakhs. Toyota’s Indian wing has ordered for 200 Prius from Japan which would arrive as CBUs causing the 110% increase in price. It would be the 3-Generation Prius which would be on sale in India.

Though there may be a million other hybrid fishes in the ocean, Prius still is the salmon everyone wants. It beats the second best Hybrid car sales with a huge difference and there is no Hollywood celebrity who doesn’t own a Prius. It is the first mass produced Hybrid and sales has crossed over 1.5 million.

Here are some technical details:

The Third-generation Prius:

A 1.8L, 2ZR FXE engine and 136PS Horsepower
Hybrid Synergy Drive
Electrically controlled CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission)
Electronically Controlled Shift Lever
Regenerative braking
Aerodynamic design of 0.25Cd (amongst the lowest in the world)
Head Up Display
Push start system and smart entry
Audio and Bluetooth controls with touch sensor on steering wheel
ABS, BA, EBD, VSC, Traction Control and 7 airbags

Brochure:

Press Release:

New Delhi, January 7, 2010:Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. (TKM) today launched the latest generation of the Prius in India at the Auto Expo 2010 that is underway in New Delhi. To further emphasise Toyota’s commitment to the environment, the Altis CNG was also launched, and the Innova CNG and Camry Hybrid were on display.
Speaking about the Prius launch in India, Mr. Sandeep Singh, DMD-Marketing, TKM said: “Through the launch of the Prius, Toyota is keen to demonstrate its commitment to offer the latest eco-friendly automotive technology to its customers in India. Since becoming the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle in 1997, the Prius has received worldwide acclaim, and we will continue to popularize hybrid vehicles worldwide to further our efforts to help save the environment.”

Prius

Staying true to the meaning of its name, i.e. ‘to go before,’ in Latin, the Prius today is the most successful hybrid in the world with cumulative sales of nearly 1.5 million.

Equipped with the latest of its pioneering technology – the Toyota Hybrid System II (also called Hybrid Synergy Drive), and with one of the best aerodynamic performances, the Prius has achieved world-leading fuel efficiency. The Third-generation Prius comes with three driving modes – Power Mode, Eco Mode and EV (Electric Vehicle) Mode, as well as a host of dynamic features that combine to give improved driving pleasure with superior environmental performance.

The Prius will be available in limited numbers in two variants, priced at xxx and xxx, ex showroom, New Delhi. Toyota dealers will start taking bookings from the beginning of March 2010.

Toyota unveiled its two concept compacts for India today at the Delhi Auto Expo. These two though are concepts right now can very well be made into production models with minor changes and soon would be at a Toyota Dealer new you. The sedan version gets a 1.5L petrol and the Hatchback a 1.2L petrol. With the Etios Toyota finally makes it into the Indian small car segment.

Image Gallery:

Photo courtesy: Vicky.in

Just a day before its official unveiling, some one took off the covering cloth and a another one took some snaps and we have here the first images of Toyota’s two new compact concepts which will be made into production versions and launched in India first and from here globally.

As known earlier from the Tokyo Auto Show , Toyota has had these two concepts ready for the Delhi Expo for some time. A week back Toyota started flaunting with a teaser video of the sedan version of the Etios. check it out here.

Image Gallery:

The updated 2010 smaller Land Cruiser, the Prado arrives in India at an ex-showroom Delhi price of Rs. 52.4 lakhs. It comes with an in-line 4 cylinder diesel engine with a capacity of 3litres, which along with the turbocharger gives a power output of 174.2bhp. It comes with all the mandatory safety, luxury and off-road assist features you would expect from a 50lakh SUV. Toyota has clearly laid out its ability here at the Toyota India website.

Sure the car fulfills everything you would expect from a premium SUV. It is safe as a tank, does off-roading well and can take you from metros to metros. In fact it does its job better than any other SUV in the market and the make quality, well its a is Toyota, but at a price of 52lakhs it is still twice its worth. I for one wouldn’t mind paying twice the worth of a car if it’s a fiat 500 or a Jaguar xj or anything which is that iconic but for a dull looking Prado, I don’t think so.

Brochure:

Image gallery:

Confirmed so far:

The single most important car to be revealed during the 2010 Delhi expo is Toyota’s Global Compact concept car codenamed EFC800L. The reason why it is the most important car is that it has managed to stay off all cameras. The word on the street is that this might be a rebadged Daihatsu Sirion on the basis that a Sirion shipped in from San Mateo, California was spotted in Calcutta a couple of days back. But this is highly unlikely as Toyota has ruled out the Daihatsu Indian entry officially and Toyota execs quotes that this is very much a new car developed for India and other emerging markets.

The only bit of information available on the net about this mystery car is that it will have a 1.2L petrol and 1.3L diesel engine variants and will cost roughly 5lakh rupees. this being concrete, a loose bit of inside info suggests that the car is based on the IQ chassis with a bit more of front and rear over hang but that’s just a voice in the wind.

The one Richard Hammond drives around in one of the Top Gear episodes. The i-REAL is exactly like a motored wheel chair, that is if the wheel chair you are thing about goes at 15kmph (we are not talking Ferraris and lambos here). Toyota claims that an i-REAL on full charge is good for 30kms and drivers won’t dare going above 6kmph. If Friends was still on, Joey and Chandler would be on the i-REAL, not the lazyboy.

This is a sports car with a complicated hydrogen fuel cell which produces electricity which in turn drive the wheels but the difference between this and say a Honda FCX Clarity is that the batter in the Fine-S could be charged. This concept is branded a sports car as it has the possibility of individual units powering all four wheels individually, which makes it an excellent handling machine.

Highly likely:

During the recent Tokyo Motor Show Toyota officials slipped it out to our Indian journalists that Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) has plans of launching a smaller Multi Utility Vehicle in India which would be placed under Innova. Since the Avanza fits the profile right it is expected of Toyota to get the Indian public’s reaction on the Avanza and what better place than the Delhi Expo.

Though this is a concept car it is very much a production ready sports car with a conventional 2.0L engine powering the rear wheels. Rumor is that it might be one of 14 cars at the Toyota booth in Delhi 2010.

Even after combining the facts with the wildest of our fictions we are still short of filling one of the 14 slots.

Press Release:

Toyota to Unveil New Compact Car Concept for India at New Delhi Show

Tokyo – TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announces its production and sales subsidiary in India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private, Ltd. (TKM), plans to unveil a concept for a new compact car designed for the Indian market, as well as display 13 other concept and production vehicles, at the 10th Auto Expo automobile show in New Delhi from January 5 to 11, 2010.

The concept for the new compact car is to be unveiled at a TKM press conference on January 5. Other vehicles on display are to include the redesigned “Prado” and “Fortuner” SUVs and the India-market-leading “Innova” minivan.

The TKM display will also present Toyota’s active approach toward developing modes of transportation for the future by showing the “i-REAL” personal mobility vehicle, the “Fine-S” fuel-cell hybrid vehicle and other concept vehicles.

The Tokyo Auto Expo hasn’t give much to India car-wise but News wise it has been a gold mine and the latest dig has provided us with this. Toyota’s officials slipped it out to our Indian journalists that Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) has plans of launching a smaller Multi Utility Vehicle in India which would be placed under Innova.

The word ends there, but it is not hard to imagine which one of Toyota’s already existing MUV will be launched in India. All we have to do to crack this one is look at a similar Toyota Market to ours, Indonesia. In Thailand Toyota has Avanza MUV which is placed below Innova. If launched in India the Avanza will cost between 5-7Lakh Rupees.

Brochure:

During the Tokyo motor show, Mr. Akira Okabe , Toyota Motor Corporation’s Senior Managing Director informed Indian motoring journalists that

“We will showcase the concept of the car in the upcoming Delhi Auto Expo. We are ready with the concept model of both the compact and the sedan versions of the car, we can launch both the hatchback and the sedan together but nothing has been finalized as yet.”

The car is code named EFC800L and is expected to have a 1.2Litre and a 1.3Litre engine with petrol and diesel options. The price of the car is likely to start at 5Lakh Rupees which will make it the cheapest car Toyota has ever made beating the Aygo hatchback. Now lets sit back and wait for the first set of spy shots.

Toyota’s Vice President Kazuo Okamoto told reporters at the Tokyo Motor show that they will be launching the world renowned hybrid car Prius in India in early 2011. He also said that Toyota will enter the Compact car segment in India with a very competitive small car which will be 10% more fuel efficient than Hyundai and Maruti’s small cars. Our sources inside Toyota reveal that the small car will be made in India with the IQ’s chassis with a longer front and rear overhang.

Though there may be a million other hybrid fishes in the ocean, Prius still is the salmon everyone wants. It beats the second best Hybrid car sales with a huge difference and there is no Hollywood celebrity who doesn’t own a Prius. It is looked up on as the savior of the Planet thought it may be a bit of an exaggeration.

Will the Prius make the same effect with the Indian? May be not as Prius’s price would be inflated to a 20Lakh rupees with the 110% CBU taxing. We hope Toyota will prove us wrong by making the Prius locally and sell it at a reasonable 10Lakh mark. The only Hybrid in India right now is the Honda Civic Hybrid.

Brochure:

Toyota’s Ipsum MUV was spotted testing in Bangalore along with an entourage of MUV’s like Mahindra Xylo and Toyota’s Innova.

Our Theory is that Toyota is planning to bring in the Picnic MUV to India. This theory is based on the following facts

• The Innova has a 2.5L engine where as the current model of the Picnic sold in Singapore has a 2.0L engine also it is priced at an Indian equivalent of 5.9L Rupees. This makes the Picnic a suitable candidate to be placed below Innova.

• This is not an Import for obvious reasons, one being the name plate and the fact that the logos are all covered.

Image Gallery:

Photo courtesy: Team-BHP

The U.S National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a safely alert for all Toyota and Lexus owners requiring them to remove the floor mat off the driver’s portion. There have been cases of the throttle pedal getting jammed in open position due to the floor mat. This is caused because of low clearance between the floor and the pedal and also because of the floor mat design. This problem is specific to Toyota and Lexus cars because of their unique flood design.

The cars that have been identified to have this problem are:

• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2007-2010 ES 350
• 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350

If you ever find you self in this position Toyota would want you to do this: Brake hard with both feet, apply clutch (in case of manual transmission), and shift to neutral (in both manual and & automatic). If you have key less entry, push and hold the start/stop button for 3 seconds to turn off the engine. If it’s a conventional key-ignition turn the key to the ACC position, do not remove the key at any time since it will lock the steering wheel. To know about various Key positions click here.

Toyota recommend that you remove the floor mat,but if you choose not to , Toyota recommends that you ensure that a proper floor mat is used and installed properly. Toyota gives more information on this in its webpage www.toyota.com.