Brazil - 100,000th Toyota Etios leaves Sorocaba factory

Toyota has rolled out the 100,000th Toyota Etios from its Sorocaba plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The commemorative unit was a 1.5 XLS hatchback in red, says the company in a press release.

With over 1,500 employees, the Sorocaba plant began manufacturing in August 2012, around the same time when the Etios was launched in Brazil. Since then, the company has steadily seen its sales rise in the South American nation by 55 percent in 2013 to 176,081 units, with the hatchback contributing 62,000 units.

The first two months of 2014 has seen 9,576 units of the car being sold, showing a 29.6 percent rise in sales compared to the same months in 2013, though no where near its competitors from Hyundai and GM.

Toyota sells the Etios in its hatchback avatar, along with the sedan and the Cross in Brazil. The Etios Cross will soon be launched in India, in May, as announced during the unveiling of the car at the Auto Expo 2014.

The Sorocaba plant is the 3rd manufacturing facility for Toyota in Brazil. The plant had an initial capacity to make 70,000 units when it was inaugurated in August 2012 and had taken an investment of $600 million (Rs 3,581 crore).

At the inauguration function, Akio Toyoda, president of the Toyota Motor Company, had announced the building of an engine plant in Porto Feliz in the Sao Paulo state as well. The engine plant is set to go on stream in the second half of 2015 and will produce the 1.3-liter and 1.5-liter flex-fuel engines for the Etios and 1.8-liter and 2.0-liter engines for the Corolla.