Filed under: Economy, Toyota, India
Toyota developing $5k car under new brand
The world's largest automaker is looking to join Tata Motors and Renault's Dacia brand as purveyors of cheap new cars. Toyota has cultured a company model by building high-quality, reliable cars, and has gone upmarket with its Lexus brand to compete at the high end of the automotive spectrum. More recently, the automaker has attempted to target a younger crowd with its Scion subsidiary and now a fourth brand is being considered to cater to emerging markets wihtout sullying the Toyota's hard-fought image. The new car would be targeted at the Indian and Brazilian markets, and would likely be made at Toyota's plant in Bangalore. Toyota is rumored to be partnering up with Daihatsu, another subsidiary of Toyota, that specializes in Japanese Kei cars for the new inexpensive model. If it indeed does happen, expect the new vehicle to make its debut by 2015.[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Hanoi Jane 1:33PM (11/10/2008)
5K??? No AC, no windows....i do not mean no power windows, i mean no windows at all.
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2004m3driver 2:09PM (11/10/2008)
Why not? the Tata Nano has windows and is only around 2200.
Safety will actually be the first thing to go.
Vincenzo 2:25PM (11/10/2008)
There is a $5,000 car in India - Suzuki Maruti (think Geo Metro).
http://www.marutialto.com
It can be ordered with A/C, sits 5 people, has 47mpg.
IK 2:25PM (11/10/2008)
you're right about safety
but the tata nano isn't so bad
I read somewhere that the design is state of the art
even though it's cheap and by a new company
don't forget that these cars don't go that fast. they're mostly used at low speeds in cities
thomas 3:21PM (11/10/2008)
sources report that asus is working on an eecar to enter the new net-book-car segment. no word from intel if it will be atom powered.....
Torrent 1:48PM (11/10/2008)
Oh no! If the iQ's quality is terrible at like 12,000 USD, There's no telling what horror they can achieve @ 5K...
P.S: another brand? I guarantee you that by 2015, they will have more brands than GM- and they will all just be rebadged Toyotas from the start.
**I can't really judge it a whole lot if I haven't seen it yet, but I hope it's good. We need inexpensive, no compromise (except for cargo room) new cars again.
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Temple 2:47PM (11/10/2008)
stop making up sh*t, the iQ doesn't have horrible quality, and you wouldn't know since it isn't available in the US until later in 2009. The complaints against the iQ from from European magazines have been that the iQ can't be claimed to be 'premium' interior as Toyota wants (especially for compared to the much cheaper Aygo).
swisslexus 2:50PM (11/10/2008)
How come you know about the quality of the iQ?
Torrent 2:59PM (11/10/2008)
I read reviews. I heard the iQ's interior quality has harsh plastics and such.
hashiryu 1:53PM (11/10/2008)
Why another brand? Why not just use the Daihatsu label?
@Torrent... according to who is the iQ's quality terrible?
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BoxerFanatic 1:56PM (11/10/2008)
Safety standards in india are far below most of the rest of the world...
This will be as much of a sardine can on wheels, as the Tata Nano.
I understand them wanting to explore emerging markets. Good for them, that is fine.
But these are going to be extremely low margin vehicles. Built as cheaply, with as little overhead as possible, with minimum profit for maximum sales volume.
But if they can sink the R&D and tooling costs into this...
Why can't Toyota build at least ONE exciting car for sale in established markets? IS-F is not that car. It wouldn't be a profit leader, but it would throw at least one bone to the enthusiast crowd that they've abandoned.
Why no new Celica, Supra, or MR2? Not even one of those... tC might somewhat mitigate Celica's market, but not Supra's, nor MR2's. And tC isn't an enthusiast car, it is youthful economy car.
I know they make high volume appliances, because that is where the bottom line is... But come on... Just one bone!
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RPM 3:10PM (11/10/2008)
It is true that the safety standards are very low. Consider though that these sub-$5000 cars are basically replacements for motorcycles and scooters. In that sense they are an improvement in safety for the driver and his family (which often will all sit on the scooter or motorcycle). Not optimal safety, but this is a developing country, and this is development.
BoxerFanatic 5:58PM (11/10/2008)
You are right, RPM, but I wasn't trying to make a value judgement on developing countries, or lack of standards.
Frankly, I think the huge amount of regulations in developed countries are stifling the industry.
I was just saying that a low price is attainable by not having those standards, and by making cars smaller and less robust for those markets.
Just because a $5k new car in the US would be unacceptable to the regulations, and most buyer's impressions, that doesn't hold true in developing countries.
I am agreeing with RPM on his point, but my point, is where is Toyota catering to enthusiasts in developed countries, while they can afford to develop a car that lots of people with very little money will be able to afford to buy. Toyota should be big enough for both.
Gerari 1:58PM (11/10/2008)
This is cool. Toyota makes phenomenal cars.
My family owns a Lexus, Toyota, and a Scion.
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8complex 2:16PM (11/10/2008)
The Peel P50 comes to mind...
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TJ 2:21PM (11/10/2008)
For $5k, I would rather have:
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/913394996.html
or
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/913351172.html
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Marc 2:27PM (11/10/2008)
Also for $5,000 - Toyota will order Timo Glock to allow a driver of your choosing to pass him.
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Amien 4:22PM (11/10/2008)
Retard.
caitlin 2:27PM (11/10/2008)
Well this is something easy to swallow for today's cost conscious economy. Too bad it's not available for 7 years.
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tekd 2:47PM (11/10/2008)
I guess this is where the real growth in the auto market is going to be for the next couple of decades as the 3 billion people in China and India start making enough money to buy cheaper cars. But I do find it kind of sketchy that Toyota is making a new brand so they don't sully the regular Toyota brand, makes it seem like they're planning on slum-lording and made up a fake new identity to do it.
Still, IF this is only because the cars will be pretty stripped out (like, no power anything) and not because they'll be unsafe and unreliable then it's OK to start a new brand.
At any rate, I think they can pull it off for $5000. If Nissan can sell Versas for under 10K without building them in India, an Indian built Toyota can shave a few thousand off in labor costs alone before you even shrink the car (it'll probably be nano sized), which will reduce the steel costs, etc. When it's all said and done it'll probably be a stripped iQesque car with a super tiny and cheap engine and probably a manual transmission straight out of some 1990's Toyota. It probably won't get the bazillion airbags the iQ gets but it could still be decently safe (and honestly, if it's competing with Nano's and Maruti's it'll probably be the safest car on the road lol)
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