JOHANNESBURG - With more than a little help from Suzuki, Toyota now has a credible replacement for the Etios that was discontinued earlier this year in India.
And while the new Baleno-based Toyota Starlet certainly appears to offer better value than the Etios, given that it’s bigger, better equipped and more modern, it still can’t match the outgoing car’s sub-R200 000 price tag. The cheapest Starlet will set you back R204 900, while the entry-level Etios cost R191 800.
Although the Starlet is worth the extra money in our book, not everyone is willing or able to boost their budget during these tough times, but thankfully it appears that Toyota South Africa is planning a more affordable model for the near future.
During the Starlet’s launch presentation on Monday, TSA’s senior manager of communications, Clynton Yon, said that the company does have some model additions planned to “take up some of the slack left by the Etios”. Timing is still uncertain, but he did add that it could happen as early as December this year or as late as the first quarter of 2021.
The products in question remain a mystery for now, and there are no obvious candidates in the global model range as yet, so they’re likely to be something not yet revealed to the world.
Given that Toyota’ partnership with Maruti Suzuki is an ongoing one, we can expect more Suzuki-based Toyotas to surface in the near future, and one of these could certainly be the aforementioned entry level model that’s planned for SA. In fact there have been rumours in India that the Swift could form the basis of a new budget vehicle, although it remains purely speculation at this point.
New Aygo perhaps? The timing seems to rule that one out as the next-generation of Toyota’s European city car is only due later in 2021 at the earliest.
Will the Starlet be a volume leader?
Toyota SA is initially targeting a volume of around 500 units a month for the Starlet, which is lower than the 1125 unit average that the Etios achieved. However Toyota puts the lower numbers down to the newer car’s higher asking price, but added that supply could easily be increased if the market demanded more than its conservative initial estimate.
Another question that came up during the Starlet Q&A session was whether Toyota was planning a successor for the Etios sedan. However TSA product communications manager Riaan Esterhuysen pointed out that the company currently has no plans to fill that space and that the Starlet hatchback would remain the only offering in that segment.
We also asked them whether the current Yaris faced discontinuation given how close the Baleno is in size terms, but at this stage the company is planning to continue with the Yaris in its current form, although the model range could be modified if deemed necessary.