Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) announced plans to launch the diesel version of Toyota Etios in September 2011. It could be remembered that TKM launched the Sedan and Hatchback models in the year 2010 and 2011 respectively. Toyota Etios, a passenger car developed for Indian customers, would have the same 1.4 diesel engine similar to that of the Toyota Altis.
The latest sales reports indicates that Toyota India enjoyed a 99% sales growth rate by selling 13,592 units in July 2011, as compared to 6834 units in July 2010. The Deputy Managing Director, Marketing, Mr. Sandeep Singh said, “The month of July has seen an impressive growth indicative of growing volumes and increasing sales of Toyota vehicles in India. The customer response to Etios and Etios Liva has been very good. We thank our customers for their trust in Toyota. Etios and Etios Liva sold 4095 units and 2551 units respectively, in July 2011. The New Corolla Altis has been received well, with the vehicle registering a growth of 22% with 1030 units sold in July 2011.”
The level of trust of the Indian customers could be translated from the impressive figures in volume sales. Many speculations are made about the upcoming launch of Toyota Etios Diesel and Liva Diesel. The company is yet to announce the exact launch date for Liva Diesel.
Continuing on its expansion plan, Toyota Kirloskar Motors announced plans to increase the vehicle production capacity to 3.1 lakh units by the year 2013 in the country. Analysts of the industry infer that TKM is going strong in both marketing and manufacturing areas as compared to other players in the industry. TKM manufacturing plants located in the outskirts of Banglore are expected to increase the annual outputs significantly. It is projected that the annual production capacity would go up by 10,000 units to reach 1 lac whereas, the annual output of the second plant will go up to 2.10 lac from 1.20 lac units.
In the manufacturing front, Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP) is all set to increase its production of Toyota auto parts by expanding the existing manufacturing units. As per the announcement, there would be massive up gradation of the manufacturing plants, enabling to significantly increase the output. The much awaited operation is schedule to be started by the first quarter of 2014. Toyota Kirloskar Auto Part's Etios and Etios Liva units
This decision was initiated to make sure that the auto parts of the Toyota Etios would be manufactured locally. This planned up-gradation of the existing units will be installed at TKAP’s new engine plant for Etios and Etios Liva. The engine plant is scheduled to start operations in the third quarter of the year 2012. In regards to this planned expansion the company is undergoing Hiroshi Nakagawa, the managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “In line with the growing demand for our vehicles, we have decided to further expand production. The demand for Etios and Etios Liva has been encouraging and we are gearing up to cater to a larger number of customers"
