News concerning Indus Motors Company (IMC) is preparing to discontinue the 1300cc Corolla XLi and GLi variants has been around for quite a lot of time now. We previously posted on the topic of a possibility that either Toyota Vios or Yaris Ativ sedan might be introduced as a replacement of XLi and GLi in Pakistan.
Now as per some sources, IMC will discontinue the 1300cc XLi and GLi by July 2018 in support of Toyota Vios, which is a well-liked subcompact sedan and a true contender of Honda City in most (Asian) markets. It even makes more sense as the Vios carries the same 1.3 liter 2NZ-FE engine that comes equipped with the current Corolla XLi and GLI so they don’t have to worry about bringing in an overall new engine, while IMC will almost certainly continue with the XLi/ GLi emblems placed on the Vios instead. Moreover there are also reports that a 1.5 liter variant with 1NZ-FE might also be introduced too.
IMC has earlier pointed out to expand their product portfolio by introducing smaller cars in Pakistan and has also determined to increase their existing plants with a capital investment of $40 million, to assist in increasing the production of vehicles by approximately 10,000 units per annum. Hiroyuki Fukui, Toyota Motor Corporation’s chief executive officer for Asia, Middle East and North African region utter:
“We expect strong competition from the new (Korean) carmakers setting up their assembly plants. We are preparing our strategy for Pakistan because it is a very important and growing market for us. We plan to launch smaller cars in the market as well but we cannot disclose our plans yet.”
IMC has never considered introducing passenger cars other than Corolla up until now, Nevertheless considering the fact that new comers are about enter the market, it will be an intellectual decision for Toyota to timely capture some decent market share prior to the competition arrives.
Toyota Vios
Toyota Vios Facelift
