Toyota Etios is EFC entry family small car

So Toyota’s all-new small car for India and other emerging markets, up for its official unveiling at the Auto Expo 2010, has got a name – Etios.

AutoCar UK has not revealed any photos of the Etios though – so take any picture that you see anywhere on the Net as a photo of the Etios with a pinch of salt. Read about all Toyota cars at the Auto Expo 2010.

Toyota has wisely not made a play for the super low end of the market, where almost no one can really take on the Tata Nano. The Etis will be positioned against the Suzuki Swift and similarly priced cars.

Let us see what else we do know about the Toyota Etios so far.

Even though the unveiling will take place at the 2010 Auto Expo in January, launch of the small car is expected only by end-2010. he car will be available initially in notchback and a hatchback versions, with the hatchback following the notchback after 3 months or so. Exactly what is a notchback car? We think what they mean is a small sedan. Notchback cars are usually all three box cars, so this is probably what they meant – or they had a thing about being a little vague. What is the fun in just coming out and revealing that the Etios sedan is coming?

The rest of the details from AutoCar sound a bit off to us. For example, they say that the Toyota Etios will have limited sound proofing, hard seats and interiors, and a single windshield wiper. Come on. Even Toyota cannot pull it off against the Swift, with a single windshield wiper! Or maybe this is such a high tech, super efficient wiper that the Etios will come with, which might do the job of three wipers? Also, what is it limited sound proofing? Unless they mean that the Swift has absolutely horrible sound-proofing, and the Etios will improve on it by offering ‘limited’ sound-proofing, which is a step up!

Let us not be so hard on them. These are all probably just soundbites for the media, or a deliberate attempt to mislead the competition  and journalists. If Toyota comes up with a small car priced against the Swift, it will be a better buy, we can promise you that.

Engine options are what everyone had already guessed – a 1200 or 1300 cc petrol, and a 1400 cc diesel that currently is on duty in the Toyota Yaris hatchback.