Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Friday announced it was taking steps to halving the waiting period for its Etios sedan. At present, the waiting period is four-six months.
In a statement the company said it was contemplating a second production shift, changes in production time (per vehicle), enhancing production and postponing the launch of the hatchback, Etios Liva, from April to June.
The Etios was launched in December and had a booking order of 26,000, of which 4,844 vehicles have been delivered. In February, TKM managed to put 2,500 Etios units on the road, and with the new measures it hopes the production figure can go up to 5,000 a month. The company has around 150 dealerships selling Etios besides other models. TKM had put up its second plant with an investment of Rs 3,200 crore in Bidadi, around 35 km from Bangalore, especially for the Etios sedan and Liva hatchback. The plant has a production capacity of 70,000 vehicles per annum. “We are advancing the introduction of second shift, which will increase the production numbers and we are deferring the hatchback, to take off pressure from Etios, for a couple of months,” said Sandeep Singh, Deputy MD (marketing).
Etios was developed from scratch for the world markets and about 4,000 engineers from both India and Japan worked for the development of this car. The company has priced the sedan at sub-Rs 500,000 range for the basic version. The sedan is fitted with a 1.5 litre petrol engine with a five speed manual transmission.
The company had announced it would introduce the hatchback version with a 1.2-litre petrol engine in April. The company had signed music director A R Rahman as the brand ambassador to promote the Etios Sedan.
Toyota will also increase the localisation content in Etios from 70 per cent to over 95 per cent by end of 2012, when the transmission and engine plant goes on stream in Bidadi.
