Toyota India To Double Sales In 2011 On The Back Of Etios (21-Feb-2010)
Irrespective of the crisis that hit the company''s US operations, Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) is eyeing to double its sales in 2011 from its estimated 70,000 units in 2010 on the back of its upcoming B segment car - the Etios.
Etios will also be the first car that Toyota will export from its Indian operations.
During 2009, the company had sold 55,497 units in India, led by the sales of its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) - Innova. Where, Innova sold around 42,700 units as against 9,100 units of the Corolla and 3,150 units of the Fortuner.
Mr. Koji Nagata, Executive Managing Coordinator and Director (Marketing) of TKM said in 2011, the company is expecting to sell around 70,000 units of its new B segment car - the Etios, which will take the company''s net sales to more than 1.4 lakh units.
The company is expecting to start the production of the Etios from December 2010 and will rollout the car in the Indian market during April-June of 2011.
Toyota has developed a sedan and a hatchback variant on the Etios platform and has also set up a separate manufacturing unit for its India small car project at its Bidadi premises near Bangalore with an investment of Rs. 3,200 crore that will have a manufacturing capacity of 70,000 units in the first phase expandable up to 100,000 units p.a.
Its Bidadi plant is spread across 425 acres and already had an 80,000 units p.a. manufacturing facility for the Innova, Corolla and the Fortuner that used up only around a quarter of the available space.
Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD of TKM said Etios is specially developed for the Indian market and after strengthening its sales in India, the company would also export the Etios from India to other countries. Where, the exports may start by the end of 2011.
Mr. Nakagawa said the Etios could be priced in the range of the Maruti Suzuki Swift, its sedan variant Swift Dzire and Hyundai i20.
Currently, Indian small car market accumulates around 2 mn units and by 2015 it is likely to touch 4 mn.
Through an auto show - Toyota Q World, the company is taking the Etios concept car to major Indian cities that also showcase the entire portfolio of Toyota cars along with the future line up of Toyota products like the LC 200 and the Toyota Prius.
The 10 cities to host the event are - Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Cochin, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
TKM is a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and the Kirloskar Group, for the manufacture and sales of Toyota cars in India.
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