Compact car for India our own: Toyota

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 5:11 am

Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corporation on Tuesday (November 4) said that the compact car that it plans to roll out in India in 2010 will be its own and not from the stable of Daihatsu Motor Co. “No. This (the small car) is very much Toyota’s,” Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Managing Director Hiroshi Nakagawa said.

He denied reports that the small car was proposed to be launched in association with Daihatsu, in which Toyota holds 51 per cent stake. Toyota Kirloskar Motor — a joint venture with the Kirloskar Group — is the Indian arm of Toyota Motor Corporation.

Nakagawa said the compact car project is on track and that TKM plans to produce 100,000 units in the first phase, after which it may be doubled. TKM had announced an investment of nearly Rs 1,400 crore for its second unit at Bidadi near Bangalore, for which a foundation stone was laid in July this year.

Asked if the proposed car would carry a price tag of around $5,000, Nakagawa said, “That’s a tough question for me”. “(Tata’s) Nano is a different type of car compared to our line-up,” he added. Nakagawa and TKM’s Deputy Managing Director (Marketing) Sandeep Singh said there would be no layoffs at its Bidadi plant. Even though it faced “some difficulty” now, it has to maintain its business, capacity and employees as the company expects things to improve in the future.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported good sales in the first half of the calendar year and the slow-down in the rest of the year would be offset by strong sales of the New Corolla Altis, company officials said. Nakagawa said the company would achieve its sales target for 2008. Singh said the company has already pilot-tested the CNG-variant of Innova and such models would be rolled out in “big numbers” from early next year.

On the impact of the global economic meltdown on Toyota, Nakagawa said he expects the Indian market to get affected, but also expects the scenario to brighten up in the near future. “Fundamentally, India is very much strong. Bright future is there,” Nakagawa said.

(With inputs from agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Compact car for India our own: Toyota

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