 |
| The Eitos Livia 1,4 |
"2012" is a movie about the end of the world as we know it.
2012 is also the year in which Toyota will export the Eitos Livia from India to South Africa.
DO NOT BE ALARMED! There is no correlation, and this won't change the way things move in South Africa. In fact, the cheap, made-in-India Toyotas that are heading this way will boost the affordable-car offering in a country that is infamous for its weekly taxi-deaths and unreliable public transport.
DO NOT BE ALARMED! There is no correlation, and this won't change the way things move in South Africa. In fact, the cheap, made-in-India Toyotas that are heading this way will boost the affordable-car offering in a country that is infamous for its weekly taxi-deaths and unreliable public transport.
Will the Eitos be reliable?
 | ||
| A lot of Hiluxes sell in Africa, where we like our vehicles bomb-proof, will the Eitos change this? |
Jeez Louise, give Time time to tell, OK? Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. launched the Eitos in Chennai only in July, so the proud owner's destructive tests are only now happening. Kirloskar did boast the Eitos platform was specifically designed for Indian drivers - and what Indian drivers loves most in their cars are cheap-cheap bomb-proof reliability - just like we South Africans do. So I suspect it will meet our standards.
 |
| Eitos Livia hatch 1.4 |
Kirloskar said it will first ship only its 5-speed, petrol-engined Etios Liva hatch and sedan to South African buyers, landing the first consignment in March, with the global aim of growing its worldwide sales on the back of these lets-not-upset-anyone-school-of-the-beige-design Eitos models.
Who are the competitors?
 | ||
| Renault spacious Sandero is a big boot behind a wheezy 55kW engine. |
The basic but roomy Pretoria-built Sandero will, however, have to be driven foot-flat if it is to keep up with the Bangalore special, as the light Toyota's little 1.4 petrol-mill generates 66kW at 5600rpm and 132 Nm at 3000 rpm. By comparison, the Sandero's 1.4 petrol manage only a wheezy 55kW at 5500rpm and a dismal 112 Nm at 3000 rpm.
Then there's the inuendo...
The Bangalore-based company plans to just about double its annual production from 160,000 units to 310,000 by 2014 and - as long as they are not aiming at the Afrikaans-speaking buyers - they will sell a lot of Eitos Livias on the back of Toyota's reputation.
For as serendipity would have it, in the patios of the emerging black market the informal greetings "Eita" may just be close enough to the Livia's name to give it friendly subliminal connections, as in: "Ei'tara Eitos?, Hamba wena!".
 |
| Eitos, enige iemand? |
[Editor: Psst. Why won't it sell to lots of Afrikaners like all the other Toyotas do?
Alwyn: Well, let's just say that in the vernacular of Toyota's biggest market segment, the Afrikaans word "Eitos" does not bring to mind images of reliable motoring - quite the contrary in fact. Apart from the Atos hatchback, there this image...]
