The Toyota 5 Continents Drive Project, started in 2014, has entered India. The drive currently is in its fifth and final leg that began in February this year. The Toyota 5 Continents Drive was flagged off at Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s plant at Bidadi in Karnataka in the presence of chief guests Yoichi Minamiyama - general manager, GAZOO Racing Company, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and Atsuhiro Okamoto - executive vice president, Toyota Motor Asia Pacific (TMAP), along with Masakazu Yoshimura - managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), and N Raja - deputy managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), among other dignitaries.
So far, the Toyota 5 Continents Drive Project has covered four continents before entering India for its final stage. As part of the project, Toyota employees drive vehicles through a variety of environmental conditions that are seen across the five continents of Australia, America (North & Latin), Europe, Africa and Asia. The event connected to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the five continents representing the five rings in the Olympic symbol.
The fifth leg of the drive started in the Middle East, driving east through Asia traversing through countries like India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines; and will culminate in Vietnam by November 2019.
As part of its India leg, the Toyota 5 Continents Drive will see participation from employees of Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Kirloskar Motor, along with their partners. For India, the drive will also see employees of Toyota’s partner, Maruti Suzuki, participate in the event. The drive will pass through the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan and will reach New Delhi by the end of this month to end its India leg. The nine-car convoy will be driving Toyota vehicles from the company’s existing India model line-up including the Innova Crysta, Yaris, Glanza and Fortuner. Additionally, Toyota also has specially-imported a modified Land Cruiser 200 for the 5 Continents drive. It is the same vehicle that participated in the previous legs.
As far as products go, Toyota recently launched the Fortuner Celebratory Edition with TRD Sportivo bits in order to push sales this festive season as well as to combat the ongoing market slowdown. The carmaker, earlier in the year, launched the Toyota Glanza – a premium hatchback based on the Maruti Suzuki Baleno – as part of Toyota’s partnership with Suzuki Motor Corporation.
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