Toyota Kirloskar, the Indian subsidiary of the Japanese auto giant Toyota, is aggressively planning to expand its India operations. The firm is planning to set-up a diesel engine production plant in the Indian auto market, in a bid to enhance the level of local content in its India portfolio models. However, the company will take a call on this matter after observing the decision of the government of India on offering subsidy on fossil fuel in the upcoming Budget session in March 2012.
It is to be mentioned here that the firm has planned-up to invest a sum of Rs 500 crore to set-up a petrol engine plant. A part of this investment will be utilized in enhancing the capacity of its transmission production, at its Bangalore based plant.
In a statement given to PTI at the Delhi International auto expo 2012, the Deputy Managing Director (Commercial) of Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Mr. Shekar Viswanathan said, "We will wait till the Budget. After that, we will look at the feasibility of setting up a diesel engine plant in India."
Following a considerable rise in the price of petrol fuel in the country in last few months, the company has witnessed a considerable surge in the demand for the diesel variants of its mass segment vehicle like entry level sedan Etios and compact hatchback Etios Liva. In year 2011, about 70 percent sales of these Etios series of models came from diesel variants.
