[YashD]

I strongly believe Toyota's exterior design was never a problem with Corolla. It's always been the interiors which has disappointed from the Altis Facelift.
I have changed so many things in my car's interior to give that extra premium oomph, for starters, added Wooden Gear knob along with other knit bits, the standard gear knob felt like it's picked up from an Etios! Then I had added a few LED lights, Ambient lights in Amber shade etc. Infact I beefed up the front of my vehicle too cause honestly, Altis looked super boring and plain jane, this one time I would sincerely thank the Chrome treatment!



Luckily, Toyota designers realised the same and jazzed up the exterior of the next generations of the Altis but still it left a lot to be desired from the interior design, I would even dare to say, in terms of quality along with Fit & Finish, my Altis is way ahead than the current generation except the instrument cluster. The materials used in the current Altis lacks the premium feel, the infotainment system is extremely laggy and well it just doesn't seems like a 25 Lakh cabin!
The Hyundai Verna at almost half it's price has better interiors.

[volkman10]

Etios & Liva were ‘Made for India’ models and Toyota had lot of aspirations from these models to strengthen their presence in the Indian subcontinent.

The Etios nameplate comes from the Greek word “Ethos”, meaning spirit, character and ideas. The sedan version was launched in December 2010 and the hatchback version (called Liva in India and Valco in Indonesia) was launched in June 2011. Both Etios & Liva will be discontinued in India as the Bharat Stage 6 standards goes into effect in April 2020.

Toyota replaced the Etios range by the more upmarket Yaris as sedan and Glanza as Toyota’s subcompact car offering in the country.

- Etios sold 2,73,843 units and Liva sold 1,74,665 units.

-The sales trend saw a dip consistently since the past 5 years

-; Etios was also revered among the Taxi buyers and was famed for its low cost of maintenance and frugal diesel engine



Toyota Corolla:

-The Corolla nameplate has been sale in the Indian sub-continent since 2003 and has sold 1,16,497 units

-Corolla got immediate fame at its launch and sold over 8k units in the first year of its launch itself. However; its volumes declined to 1,422 units in 2019.

- Owing to low volumes; Toyota does not see the viability to bring in the next-gen Corolla to India.



Link

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Toyota Corolla:

-The Corolla nameplate has been sale in the Indian sub-continent since 2003 and has sold 1,16,497 units

-Corolla got immediate fame at its launch and sold over 8k units in the first year of its launch itself. However; its volumes declined to 1,422 units in 2019.

- Owing to low volumes; Toyota does not see the viability to bring in the next-gen Corolla to India.

Attachment 1989999

Link

This sales graph has 2 massive drops, one in 2013 and other in 2016. Coincidentally both years had significant launches.

2013 saw the launch of the 4th gen Honda City and it was the last year of the 10th gen Corolla Altis.

In 2014 sales picked up since Toyota launched the 11th gen Altis but this was where the problems started. The Corolla jumped up in price, lost the luxurious and executive interiors and hardly any new features got added.

The Honda City offered better space, more features and at 70% of the price.

The 2016 nosedive is also interesting. The Creta was launched in 2015 and had mopped up the D1 segment by 2016.

Both Honda and Toyota have some blame in killing this segment IMO. They failed to update these 2 cars and get the features expected of this segment. They delayed launches and let the compact crossovers walk all over them. Honda themselves launched the updated City and made the Civic pointless to many buyers.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Both Honda and Toyota have some blame in killing this segment IMO. They failed to update these 2 cars and get the features expected of this segment. They delayed launches and let the compact crossovers walk all over them. Honda themselves launched the updated City and made the Civic pointless to many buyers.

Can't agree more!

We owned one of the first Corolla's sold in India back in 2003, and picked up the current / recently discontinued Altis facelift in 2017. Apart from an increase in the number of airbags, and a not so nice touchscreen music system aside - there really isn't a jump in features.
Heck I'd even say that the number of hard plastics in the interiors has gone up in the newer gen.

That being said - it is still the best backseat in it's segment & it will be sorely missed. Happy to have gotten ours!

[CarguyNish]

TKM official hints Toyota RAV4 more suitable for India than Toyota Corolla Altis - Report

Instead of the Toyota Corolla Altis, the Toyota RAV4 compact SUV is more suitable for India, a TKM official has indicated. C-SUVs are seeing increasing popularity here since the launch of the Jeep Compass in 2017

The advent of locally manufactured compact SUVs like the Jeep Compass, Tata Harrier and MG Hector has made survival for compact sedans even tougher. TKM has understood that it’s time to consider a C-SUV for India now.

“We have been watching the market response and we witness that customer preference is evolving in the C segment from sedan to SUV,” Naveen Soni, Senior VP - Sales & Service, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, told Financial Express recently. “Considering such evolving market needs, we will decide on our further course of action,” he added.

The costly platform and the lack of a diesel engine might make the decision about launching the Toyota RAV4 in India difficult.

However, TKM can test-market it at least. In fact, The Economic Times had reported last year that the company is exploring the Toyota RAV4 and a few other global SUVs to import them here in limited numbers without homologating

Source

[Flyer]

Originally Posted by CarguyNish

TKM official hints Toyota RAV4 more suitable for India than Toyota Corolla Altis - Report

Going by how Toyota does things in India, It will take ages for them to set up manufacturing and sell RAV4 in India. By that time market would have moved from SUVs to something else! I don't know if the new 2500 rule would be viable for bringing RAV4 as they already sell other models like Vellfire, Land Cruiser etc through it.

And also not to mention their pricing!

[DicKy]

Good decision. If there is any company that can utilise the 2500/ year import rule, it is Toyota. They have a whole plethora of models that could be imported to test the waters.

But in typical Toyota fashion, if they are going to import at full invoice, and let the imports duties take its full toll, then no words.

If they are going to price the Rav4 at the Corolla price range and the mentioned Jeep Compass range, very well. The Toyota badge and the product's capabilities would ensure success.

Though the Rav4 has grown and has become more like the crossover version of the Camry, than the Corolla.

In fact, the present Rav4 shares its platform and engines with the Camry.

My wish - They launch the 2.0l with manual and 2.5l hybrid at the current Innova price range, higher than the competition but at par with Compass, it would be a sales success (imagine Covid-19 didn't happen)

Reality - If at all, Toyota imports the Rav4 under the 2500/ year norm, they will bring only the hybrid version. Price it at par with Fortuner or just below Camry. If it succeeds, then start assembly, use the volumes of scale, as the Camry shares the engine and platform. But then looking at how models like CRV and Tucson are doing. Don't know.

About other global SUVs. Other than the Rav4 and Ch-R, don't know which other SUV/ crossover models would be suitable as a test market exercise under the 2500/year rule. The Highlander would be too big and expensive, not to say it isn't available in RHD.
Edit:- My bad, the Highlander is available in RHD as the Kluger.

Another thing for Toyota would be to bring Noah, Sienta type ones. They could use the halo effect of the Vellfire.

About Daihatsu derived models, they could have done it ages ago.

Me thinks, the only concrete thing that's going to happen is the upcoming Toyota-Maruti Creta fighter based on the stretched Raize platform.
Anything else is just day dreams or exorbitantly priced CBUs.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

T
The 2016 nosedive is also interesting. The Creta was launched in 2015 and had mopped up the D1 segment by 2016.

Agree, In fact the sedan segment itself has been sliding since 2016 I think. Now with sub 4m SUVs, I wonder if even the cars like DZire/Amaze will gradually go down.