Japanese carmaker Toyota Kirloskar has recently announced that it will stop production of its luxury sedan Corolla Altis from January 2014 onwards. This step is being undertaken as the carmaker is planning to launch a new generation Corolla Altis towards middle of 2014, and a production model of this variant will be presented at Indian Auto Expo in Feb 2014. Toyota which faced hardship of low sales in 2013 like other car manufacturers in India is planning to start 2014 with a range of new products and removing old non –performing models from its portfolio. The improved model of its Toyota Altis premium sedan is already on sale in America and Japan.
Its Corolla Altis was being manufactured in India under partnership with Kirloskar Motors at its production facility near Bangalore. Before making this new model available for sale in June-July it will be presented in a grand ceremony at Indian Auto Expo to be held in New Delhi. The interim period will help Toyota fulfill orders booked during the Expo. Since the existing model is being sold in both diesel and petrol fuel options forthcoming Toyota model will also be available with diesel and petrol engines and while petrol variant will be priced between INR 12 – 16 lakhs the diesel version will cost INR 13 – 17 lakhs.
The latest figures present with Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Toyota has sold 2972 units of Corolla Altis during April – December 2013 depicting a decline of 30 percent since 2012 prompting it to discontinue present model. The new model will be manufactured at Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s manufacturing unit near Bangalore which has a capacity of 1.2 lakh units per annum. Though the first model of Toyota Corolla was introduced in India almost a decade ago it has undergone a few design changes and its recently discontinued version was introduced in 2008. In India the Corolla has received mixed reviews from press and buyers alike therefore its sales has been limited to 85000 units during its decade long existence.
The petrol variant of Toyota Corolla Altis 2014 will be powered by 1.8 liter petrol engine with power capacity of 137 bhp while 2.0V higer variant will have 140 bhp. Latest model will also have headlamp cluster with combination of LED daytime lights and projector headlights. Toyota will present this premium model with modern security equipment like ABS, ABD, dual airbags, disk brakes with gas filled shock absorbers and keyless entry-exit technology. Exteriors are enhanced by wraparound tail-lamps, alloy wheels and slim radiator grill with wide air-dam in front along with glass antenna above rear windshield. Interior upholstery of the new Toyota Corolla Altis which has made its secretive testing appearances in India has dual tone interiors with a neat and uncluttered dashboard section.
The interiors of 2014 Corolla Altis are also more spacious since its wheelbase has been increased from 2600mm – 2700mm and its seats have also been redesigned to make them roomier. Audio system has been enhanced to touchscreen technology which also contains controls for rear parking sensors and navigation. Auto enthusiasts have confirmed that some features of exterior design of new Corolla Altis is based on Toyota’s Furia concept which was shown in Detroit Auto Show in 2013.
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Tagged: 2014 Toyota Corolla
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