India’s small car segment is going to have one more player in the form of Toyota Etios Liva hatchback. Toyota Kirloskar Motors will launch its first small car in the country on June 27. According to some reports, Toyota Liva is priced just over Rs 4 lakh for basic model and the top-end version will be priced around Rs 5.5-6 lakh. That will surely trigger a price war in this segment.
After launching the cheapest entry level sedan in the form of Toyota Etios, the Liva could become the cheapest hatchback if you consider prices of Maruti Suzuki Swift, Volkswagon Polo, Skoda Fabia, Hyundai i20, Nissan Micra and Fiat Punto. The prices of all this cars starts well over Rs. 4.30 lakh and moves on to Rs. 8 lakh for top-end version. So, we may witness a price war in near future in this segment.
“Prices are the first phase of the competition,” says PricewaterhouseCoopers Auto Practice Leader Abdul Majeed told Economic Times. He added, “These Price wars would excite the customers and potentially help many to upgrade to bigger cars.”
We may have seen a hint of this price war when Honda Siel Cars India cut the price of Honda City sedan by upto Rs 66,000. In the coming months the company is also bringing a small Honda Brio which will be priced under Rs 5 lakh. Honda is also expected to cut the prices of its Jazz hatchback, which is priced much higher than competing models, to make it more attractive for Indian customers.
