A year after Toyota introduced the Etios hatchback concept it goes into production at the firm’s new Kirloskar plant in Bangalore, India as a compact sedan. The Indians are very fond of this car, based on the comments posted on our first report about it, so they must be chuffed to bits now that it’s coming!
The production begins with the “Etios”1 compact sedan. The Etios is to be joined by the “Etios Liva”2 hatchback in April 2011, bringing planned production of the Etios series to 70,000 vehicles annually. Toyota officials refer to this car as a high-quality, reasonably priced product to meet the expectations of Indian customers.
Outline of TKM (Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private)
| Company name | Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited | |
| Location | Bidadi, outskirts of Bangalore, Karnataka State, India | |
| Establishment | October 1997 | |
| President | Hiroshi Nakagawa | |
| Equity participation | TMC: 89%, Kirloskar Group: 11% | |
| Land area | Approx. 1.7 million m2 | |
| Employees | Approx. 4,650 (as of December 2010) | |
| Plant name | Plant No. 1 | Plant No. 2 |
| Annual production capacity | Approx. 80,000 units | Approx. 70,000 units |
| Products | Corolla, Innova, Fortuner | Etios |
| 2009 production results | Approx. 51,000 units | — |
