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| Toyota Etios |
The base version of the Liva is priced at a psychologically significant point of Rs 3.99 lakh (ex-Delhi showrooms) - a few thousand rupees below Maruti's Ritz petrol model and its most successful car in premium hatchbacks, the Swift. The Swift controls 35% of this segment, with the Hyundai i20 carving out 22%.
Maruti's share in compact cars is around 65%, with eight of its entire range of 15 models being small cars. Compact cars account for 80% of total cars sold in India. Maruti sold some 11.32 lakh cars in fiscal year 2011. Pricing of under Rs 4 lakh also makes the base version of the Liva one of the cheapest premium hatchbacks in the country.
Only the Ford Figo at a starting price of Rs 3.59 lakh for the petrol variant is priced lower than the Liva. The premium hatchback segment is also the fastest-growing segment in the 2.5-million cars per year Indian market. Toyota, which has been extremely successful in the multi-utility vehicle segment and less so in cars, has big hopes from its Etios line.
Liva could change market dynamics
"We aim to sell more than 100,000 Etios sedans and hatchbacks in 2012," said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director (marketing) at Toyota Kirloskar. Toyota had launched the Etios as a mass market affordable sedan last December and has sold a little over 20,000 units since. "There is a strong demand for small cars and we will expand depending upon the demand from the domestic market," added Singh.
Analysts said Liva's launch could change the market dynamics in the premium hatchback segment. "It could be one of the top-selling cars in its class, and can surely start a price war in the compact car space," said Abdul Majeed, the head of auto practice at PwC.
