Japanese carmaker Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Ltd (TKM) has said it would use Ennore port as its base for exports.
The company is planning to export Etios — its upcoming compact car in India — through Ennore port while components would be exported from Chennai port.
“We are in the final stage of negotiations with Ennore port,” said Shekar Viswanathan, deputy managing director – commercial, TKM. The company is working on investment and other plans, including the area TKM requires inside the port. “We can also share some of the common infrastructure with Nissan Motor, which is planning Ennore as its export base,” he said.
Meanwhile, TKM is in the process of investing Rs 3,200 crore at Bidadi on the outskirts of Bangalore for setting up its second manufacturing facility, which will mainly produce Etios for both domestic and export markets. The production would start by 2010 end, TKM managing director Hiroshi Nakagawa told mediapersons here after showcasing Etios.
Initially, the company is looking at catering to the domestic market. “After we reach our target of 70,000 units of Etios in the domestic market, we will commence exports,” said Nakagawa. He declined to comment further on the plan including the export markets the company was looking at.
The Bidadi plant would have a production capacity of 70,000 vehicles in the first phase and can be increased to 200,000 in the next phase, said Nakagawa.
Also Read
The company is expected to come out with the pricing of its compact car at the time of launch. Etios 1.5 litre sedan will compete with Maruti Suzuki’s Swift Desire and Honda City while the 1.2 litre hatchback will compete with Maruti Suzuki’s Swift and Hyundai's I20.
It also plans to expand its sales/service network to about 150 dealers by the end of 2010.
Nakagawa said the company grew over 100 per cent in the last two months in terms of cumulative sales for January-February 2010 at 11,982 units, a 109 per cent increase over the same period last year. “This year, we are looking at a minimum of 70,000 units and 140,000 units in the following year,” he said.
To support its future targets apart from expanding its dealer base, the company is also looking at setting up its own financial arm.