Toyota’s newly launched luxury executive, the Corolla Altis, is much improved over the car it replaces. It looks sharper, is more spacious and there are a total of nine variants on sale at varying price points. And from what the dealers report, there is a healthy demand for it already, with waiting periods in the capital at a month-and-a-half for petrol and upto two months for the diesel model.
As is the current trend, it’s the automatic variants that are drawing higher interest than the manual in this new model, compared to the last-generation car.
According to the dealers, bookings for the automatics account for nearly 60-70 percent of the total bookings for petrol models. “Most customers are booking automatic model drive themselves and are looking for ease of driving, while the chauffer-driven are going in for the manual models,” said a dealer. Another said, “The customers are quite well informed and they know all about the CVT gearbox and paddle shifts, and are liking the new looks too. We expect the demand to stay strong for a while.”
If you too have been eyeing the new Corolla Altis, be prepared to wait, especially if it’s the automatic model you want to buy.