The Toyota Qualis marked the entry of Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited - a joint venture of Toyota Motor Corporation and Kirloskar Group - in India in 2000. The company had already launched a massive ad-campaign towards the 2nd half of 1999 announcing its arrival in the Indian market. Although everyone knew the brand, Toyota still used the tagline Touch & Try for those who had never tried out a Toyota before. Excitement was building up in 1999 amongst the Indian buyers who really expected a good car from Toyota. But in January when Toyota launched the Qualis( short for Quality and Service), reactions were mixed. Potential buyers expected a modern looking vehicle and were disappointed when a dated model was launched. Rival companies rejoiced thinking that an outdated model will never beat their vehicles.
But things took a drastic turn in a few months when people actually touched and tried the car. The Qualis introduced at the time when there were only 2 players in the market - the Mahindra Bolero and the Tata Sumo. Although the Qualis was a Multi Utility Vehicle( MUV), it wasnt targeted at MUV buyers. It felt very car like and the quality and refinement of the Qualis was what differentiated between the Bolero and Sumo.