Japanese car company Toyota unveiled a concept model of its upcoming compact car, the Etios, at the Delhi Auto Expo this week. The production of the car will begin shortly at Toyota Kirloskar’s new plant in Bidadi, near Bangalore, and it will be launched by the end of 2010. Mr Kazuo Okamoto, Vice Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, said that the Etios was developed over a period of four years by 2,000 engineers from both India and Japan. The company is looking at an annual sales figure of 70,000 units for the new car. It will be imported as a Completely-Built Unit (CBU).

Toyota also launched its hybrid car, Prius, in India this week. The car is equipped with a 1.8 litre petrol engine with a 60 kilowatt battery, and can run on three modes – the power mode, the eco mode and the electric or battery mode. It is priced between Rs 26.55 lakh and Rs 27.86 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). In addition to the Prius, the company launched the Corolla Altis CNG. It also displayed the CNG version of the Innova and a hybrid version of the Camry at the Auto Expo.