Toyota has been silently eyeing the lower class car segment in India for quite a while and only recently did they introduce the Etios. The Etios, just like the other Toyota products in India, is a car which was discontinued in North America. However the Indian public has not been too kind to this kind of dumping. The very fact of owning a Toyota has sent the Etios sales and production figures to an all time high however, post the 6 month ownership thing, many customers have claimed that this car is one hell lot of trouble maker rather than the ever reliable image that Toyota had created for themselves. In all this thing, the company is in the midst of rejuvenating their earlier bread winner, the Toyota Corolla Altis. So much so that the 2011 Toyota Corolla Altis in India is ready for a launch anytime soon. Don’t believe us, there are many spy pictures of the Altis which have been captured while it was on testing phase. The Corolla had being one of the mainstays for Toyota India for quite a long time however recently its applecart was toppled by the Chevy Cruze and some other new entrants. So in a bid to keep the public interest alive in this car, Toyota are bringing in the facelifted variant. Before its official launch, we got to test drive this car and here is the test drive report.

The honeycombe grille of the earlier Toyota has been replaced and incomes the family face of the Toyota family. The head lamps have been made even more clear lens types and the slight bulge from the earlier model has been retained. The fog lamps find their way to the lower corners of the bumpers. Apart from that, the slated air dams have been retained. All these changes have however made the 2011 Corolla closer to the Camry that is now being sold in India. The tyre size remains the same with a 15 inch configuration. For the rear, just like the Maruti Swift Dzire or even the Tata Manza, there is a big chrome slab running across the length of the bumper. Is that good or bad is for the car buyers to decide. The tail lamps now resemble those of the outgoing Volkswagen Jetta. Its more like in Thailand and the Corolla that we have seen Emraan Hashmi drive in one of his films. Head lamp washers in the front and parking sensors in the rear complete the package.

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