Commonly noted by industry pundits and some customers as well, is the phenomenon of major car manufacturers, to build a traditional hatch back initially for their domestic market i.e. Europe, and then suffice the same with a boot as an after thought and later sell the same vehicles as a premium sedan in yet to mature markets like India.
We have seen many instancse of this happening around us, a few notable are the Maruti Swift DeZire, Jetta by VW so on and so forth. But Toyota has done a volta-face, it has gone the opposite way by first making a budget sedan for the price sensitive Indian customers, then chopped off the boot and made it cheaper further. Its not surprising that the people are left wondering about the monetary value Toyota will attach to Liva. Toyota, as of now, is keeping all its cards close to its chest and has refused to spill the beans. But, if you may speculate the price on the basis of Toyota Etios, the figure that you may arrive at will be quite stunning. Etios is available in the market for a price of Rs 4.96 lakhs; it is hazard free to assume that the new Etios-Liva will be cheaper by another Rs 1 lakh. The car will come with a 1.2 liter petrol engine and a diesel variant is expected sometime later in the year.
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