Toyota Kirloskar Motor is planning to boost its sales by expanding the dealership network in the North East region of the country. Notably, the sales of Toyota Kirloskar Motor have fallen in recent times. However, sources close to the company believe that the North East region has the potential of doing well and it will surely make a significant contribution to the company's overall numbers.
According to reports, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has plans of setting up an office in Guwahati, which is one of the most prominent cities of the North East region. With its office in Guwahati, the auto maker is going to target smaller towns in nearby areas. Toyota Kirloskar Motor is also expected to establish two new outlets by the end of 2013. Elaborating the importance of North East region in a recent interview, the Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer (Marketing and Commercial) of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Sandeep Singh was quoted as saying, “The North Eastern market contributes 20 per cent of the total East market size, therefore making it a significant region for TKM. Right now we are focusing on expanding our dealer network in the North East with 9 dealer outlets by the end of 2013.”
Incredibly, Assam makes an average contribution of around 81 per cent in total sales made by Toyota Kirloskar Motor in the North East region. Currently, the dealership network of the auto maker is limited in the North East market with only seven outlets. These outlets are spread over cities in Assam (Guwahati, Nagaon, Dibrugarh and Silchar), Meghalaya (Shillong), Nagaland (Dimapur) and Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar). Officials from Toyota Kirloskar Motor feel that it is only time to expand the network before the revival of the Indian car market takes place and things are restored to normal. Industry experts are also of a view that as and when the market comes back to its normal state, the North East region will certainly have an important role to play in the firm’s operations.
Reports suggest that the company is trying to stabilise operations in the region and is simultaneously hoping the market to recover soon. N Raja, Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing at Toyota Kirloskar Motor, explained the firm’s current actions. “At present, the company is in the process of establishing and stabilising its network in the region. Our dealer expansion plans are based on the market potential... We will continue to expand our network and this thrust will largely be in smaller towns and cities," he explained.
At present, the North East region is being handled from the company’s East Regional office, which is situated in Kolkata. However, the auto maker hopes to change it by opening an office at Guwahati, in order to ensure better focus. Apart from this, the company is involved in the establishment of a Regional Parts Centre in Kolkata. Sources claim that the setting up of this centre is being done to minimise the time in the supply of service parts to various dealerships. N Raja also spoke about the cars that are performing well in the North East region. Among these were the likes of Innova, Etios and the Fortuner. "We have also seen a growing demand for premium vehicles like Camry and Land Cruiser. There is a clear preference for diesel over petrol variants in this region," Raja added further.
