How Toyota has destroyed the Quality in Q Class

It was in December 2010 when Toyota launched the Etios, a sedan in India and termed it as Q class.  Q was for quality, said Toyota.  After some time, Etios Liva, hatchback version of this sedan was launched in June 2011.  People expected very highly of these two models from Toyota.  Products from Japanese car makers particularly Honda, Toyota and Suzuki are very much in demand in India.  Toyota’s earlier line of products i.e. Innova, Altis and Fortuner were very well established and doing well in the market.  As such, a high level of quality was expected from Toyota in its Liva and Etios models.

However, contrary to expectations and much contrary to its Q badge, these cars have anything but quality.  Once you enter these cars, the first impression that comes to the mind is cheap, cheap and cheap.  Everything inside the car seems so cheap that you can compare it to a very basic, 800 cc car from Suzuki i.e. Maruti 800 which costs less than half of the Liva.  The display cluster is in the middle of the dashboard and it is not just the position of this display but also the shape that irritates you and reminds you of the fact that Toyota designers were hell bent on presenting the most disgusting feeling inside the car.  The dashboard design is just irritating and qualityless. 

Coming to the quality of doors, you can not expect the solidness and compactness of European cars in Japanese cars.  But then, not having proper insulation in the doors is something which could have been avoided.  It was not done and the result – everything unwanted like water, noise, dust, insects entering the car.  This was some basic thing that could have been thought about.  Complaints for this aspect have become a routine among consumers.

Cost cutting is so deep that nobody in Toyota thought about the engine noise entering the cabin.  And everybody knows that Toyota’s engines are not like those of Honda’s or Suzuki’s k series or Hyundai’s kappa series which are super silent.  Noise, vibration and harshness levels are too much for the people inside the car.

While Toyota has tried to make some changes in the recent versions, it has left a bad taste among consumers who were very impressed till some time ago by the reliability of its cars.  Interesting thing is that Honda’s Brio, whose quality of material and engine is just awesome is priced lower than Liva.  Liva’s base model, comparable to Brio’s base model feature wise, is priced at Rs. 402000 against Brio’s price of Rs. 395000 (at New Delhi).  So, Toyota can not say that cheaper car brings cheaper materials.  It has to think about it.

Liva and Etios are other wise very good for the space, ride quality and long, hassle free life of engines, characteristics much desired in India.  But cost cutting and bad designing by Toyota has turned Q for Quality into Q for Question mark on Quality of Toyota products.