'Dip in car sales temporary'

Citing strong fundamentals of the economy as the basis for his optimism, K K Swamy, deputy managing director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited, termed the present lull in car market as purely temporary.

"We expect sales to touch previous levels from the festive season," he said here. Growth in car sales in the month of June, 2005, fell to as low as 2 per cent with the overall growth for the first quarter of the current financial year hovering around 10 per cent as compared to the annual growth rate of 24 per cent for the past couple of years.

He attributed the dip in car sales during this year to reasons related to season and sentiment rather than any serious causes which may have a longer influence.

In spite of lower growth in car sales, Toyota still has a pendency of bookings to the extent of one month sales to clear, according to Swamy.

The absence of 'furious growth' being witnessed in the last couple of years is apparent at a time when the capacity of the production plant at Bidadi in Karnataka, where Toyota's popular Corolla is produced, has reached to a maximum of 60,000 cars annually from 44,000 level.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors, a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and the Kirloskar Group, has sold 24,000 Corolla units up to the end of June 2005 as compared to 54,000 Corolla units in the last calendar year. The south accounts for 25 per cent of its total sales and 34 per cent of the local market share.

Swamy said the company is going to increase its dealer network to 60 from the existing 44 this year and is planning to raise it to 180 in the next couple of years.

Swamy was here to address the media in connection with the latest round of "Top of the World" offer being given to Corolla buyers, which guarantees one in every seven owners of the car a winner. The company is spending around Rs 4 crore on the campaign.