Toyota revs up for small car in India

Global automobile giant Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) on Thursday set the ball rolling for a newly designed compact car for the Indian market by laying the foundation stone for a Rs 1,400 crore new factory near Bangalore. The new compact car, expected to hit the Indian roads by mid-2010, is currently being developed by Toyota engineers with inputs from Indian engineers, top company officials said here today.
 
The foundation stone was laid at Bidadi, about 40 kms from here by the Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in the presence of Akira Okabe, Senior Managing Director, TMC, Ryoichi Sasaki, Chairman, Vikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairman and Hiroshi Nakagawa, managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd.
 
"The factory will be ready by mid-2010 and we are yet to finalise the launch date of the new car. We have basic concept of the new car ready and very shortly we will finalise the design of the car," Okabe told reporters.
 
He said the second plant will see an initial investment of Rs 1,400 crore. However, the investment does not include certain other costs like installing robots, jiggs, a special type of tool among others. The additional amount of investment required for the plant will be worked out later, he said. The second plant will be spred over 130 acres of land and includes a new test track. The plant will have an installed capacity of 100,000 units annually and will employ 2,400 people.
 
Though the new compact car is designed for the Indian market, the initial design features indicate that it can be exported to other markets in Asia, Okabe said.
 
Toyota's first plant in India was built in 1998 with a capacity to produce 60,000 units per annum. It manufactures Innova, a multi utility vehicle and luxury sedan Toyota Corolla. While the premium luxury car, Toyota Camry and sports utility vehcile, Prado are imported as completely built units. "Toyota aims to capture 10 per cent of the Indian passenger car market by 2010. The new plant will help us achieve this target between 2010 and 2015," Okabe said. Currently, Toyota has 3 per cent market share in the 1.2 million car market in India.
 
Okabe said Toyota will not involve its group company, Daihatsu, in designing the new compact car for the Indian markets. However, the company may involve them in the future projects, he added.
 
Toyota has till now invested Rs 2,000 crore in the Indian subsidiary, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd along with the Pune-based Kirloskar group as its partner, which holds 11 per cent.
 
Toyota also manufactures transmission kits (gear boxes) for its global production facilities from its another subisidary company -- Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Ltd, located near the first plant. The installed capacity is 630 units per day.
 
TKM, reported a turnover of Rs 3,600 crore during 2007-08, registering a growth of 24 per cent over the previous year.