Toyota shifting to petrol-only fuel strategy; no diesel version of Yaris

The narrowing gap between petrol and diesel prices, an uncertainty around the future treatment of vehicles and low resale price of diesel cars are some of the apparent reasons for the strategy shift.

Technology News : Japanese car maker Toyota is making a shift to a petrol-only strategy for its non-SUV future vehicles in India. The Yaris sedan, which will be launched next month, will have a petrol only option. This marks a shift from Toyota’s earlier approach where it rolled out both diesel and petrol variants for smaller cars like the Etios sedan and Liva hatchback.

“We have been monitoring this segment for some time now. In the past three years, there has been a rise in customer sales of petrol variants. Traditionally, customers like a diesel engine on bigger vehicles like SUV, MPV as higher torque is required to enjoy and handle bigger cars,” said N Raja, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, the Indian arm of Toyota.

Indian car buyers have shown an increasing preference for petrol cars and the share of diesel variant in new car sales has fallen to 23 per cent from almost 50 per cent in FY13. The narrowing gap between petrol and diesel prices, an uncertainty around the future treatment and low resale price of diesel cars are apparent reasons for the shift. In case of SUVs, however, the bulk of the sales come from diesel variants.

The Yaris does not have a diesel option globally but the company would have considered one for India had the demand for diesel cars been strong enough. Toyota has made investments of Rs 11 billion in a local diesel engine manufacturing unit that can produce more than 100,000 diesel engines a year. This unit was inaugurated in June 2016. “We will evaluate diesel options in Yaris on the basis of changing customer needs and favorable policy,” said Raja.

Diesel engine technology has been at the receiving end of bans from policy-makers and courts in recent years. A ban on sales of diesel vehicles (2,000cc and above) in the NCR, imposed by the Supreme Court in December 2015, had negatively impacted Toyota more than any other car maker. The ban, which hit sales of its bestsellers Innova and Fortuner, was lifted in August 2016 after imposition of a cess of one per cent.

→ Toyota Yaris

Tokyo Motor Show 2017: Toyota highlights AI, Honda displays electric cars

AI technologies, eco-friendly cars in spotlight at Tokyo Motor Show

 

 

The 45th Tokyo Motor Show 2017 opened to the press on Wednesday with next-generation cars featuring automated driving, artificial intelligence (AI) and eco-friendly technologies in the spotlight.
A total of 153 companies from various countries displayed their achievements and research plans on next-generation products and services at the show, Xinhua news agency reported.

Toyota Motor Corp, Japan's largest carmaker by volume, unveiled its new concept car "Fine-Comfort Ride" featuring hydrogen fuel cell, and three "Concept-i" vehicles with automated driving and AI technologies.

The scandal-hit Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co both showcased their new electric vehicles, including the "Honda Sports EV Concept" car which is equipped with AI technologies and can interact with the driver.

The show also features connectivity technologies, with an event titled "Tokyo Connected Lab 2017" offering visitors virtual experiences of driving in connected cars in a futuristic society through VR headsets.

The show will be open to the public from October 28 through November 5 at Tokyo Big Sight.
Though one of the world's five major motor shows, the show suffered a decline in popularity in recent years as automakers shifted their attention to the emerging markets.

The biennial show attracted 2.02 million visitors in 1991 at its peak but only some 810,000 visitors in 2015.

Audi launches the 5 ‘Brat Pack’ range starting at Rs 54.02 lakh

With the launch of A5, Audi bridges the gap between A4 and A6

 

A sportback, a performance sedan and an open-top cabriolet, how else could have Audi bridged the gap between the A4 range and the A6 range?The 5 range that Audi calls 'BratPack', offers a perfect blend of models for buyers to choose from.

The ex-showroom price of A5 is Rs 54,02,000. The A5 Cabriolet is priced at Rs 67,51,000 while the top of the line S5 will cost you Rs 70,60,000.

The Audi A5 sportback and cabriolet are powered by a 2.0 Litre TDI engine that churns out 190 hp and 400 Nm of peak torque and is mated to a Seven-speed S Tronic dual clutch auto transmission. Both the cars can clock a top speed of 235 kmph.

While A5 sportback takes 7.9 seconds to tick triple digits, A5 Cabriolet does it in 7.8 seconds being quicker by 0.1 seconds.

Performing duty under the hood of the S6 is a 3.0 Litre V6 TFSI mill that produces 354 hp and a whopping 500 Nm of peak torque.

This engine is married to an eight-speed Tiptronic transmission and comes equipped with Quattro all-wheel-drive system (AWD). It takes a 0-100 drake in 4.7 seconds and can clock a top speed of 250 kmph.

Other than the segment standard features such as 3-zone climate control and touchscreen infotainment system, which are some of the highlights.

Like other Audi cars, all three are equipped with MMI navigation plus with MMI touch, Audi virtual cockpit that enhances the beauty and functionality of the instrument cluster and Audi smartphone interface that... Read Full Article