Toyota is a brand leader around the world but surprisingly it has only 3 percent market share in India. Toyota intends to be a brand leader in India as well. It is now developing a small car model that they claim will be more fuel efficient than any Maruti or Hyundai model. The car will be launched by the end of 2011 to compete with these two market leaders in the small car segment.
"For our upcoming small car we have set the benchmark with Maruti's Swift and Hyundai's i20. We are targeting to develop the car with 10 per cent more fuel efficiency than the Swift and i20," Toyota Motor Corporation Chief Engineer (Product Planning for Passenger Vehicle) Yoshinori Noritake told a group of visiting Indian journalists in Tokyo.
The new model will be powered by a 4-cylinder engine that will also comply with all Bharat Stage IV norms. Toyota is still finalizing small car engine specifications to enjoy the excise duty benefits for the small car. Currently, small car engines are charged 8 percent duty against 20 percent duty levied on bigger cars.
Toyota realizes that India is an extremely price-sensitive market and therefore it is trying hard to curb costs. It is also contemplating options to import auto components from other ASEAN countries like Indonesia and Thailand to make the pricing even more competitive.
