Etios key for Toyota in India

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is expecting the soon-to-be-launched Etios to be the game changer for them in the coming years. The company expects the Etios saloon and the hatchback to account for half of its overall sales in India by end-2011.

Toyota’s small car concept Etios, which was first showcased at the 2010 Auto Expo in Delhi is expected to be 90 percent true to the production version and will go on sale in December 2010. Based on a completely new platform, the Etios will be offered with two engine options - 1.2-litre and 1.5-litre DOHC 16-valve petrol engines. Plans for diesel motor are presently on hold and the buyers will only have the choice of petrol engine initially.

On the localisation front, Toyota is planning to locally manufacture these engines by 2012 and it’s only around this period that the Japanese giant is expecting the Etios to achieve their profit targets. As far as transmission is concerned, the localization will commence only by 2013, which will also be exported to Brazil.

With the Etios, the company has taken a different approach from that of its local competitors. Unlike Maruti’s aggressive product plans – which recently launched five CNG models, A-star AT, Alto K10 and a new assembly plant in the pipeline – Toyota’s expansion plans for the Etios is relatively low key. At present, Toyota’s second plant that will manufacture the Etios is under construction and will have an initial manufacturing capacity of 70,000 units annually, with an increased in capacity to 2,00,000 units at a later stage. By 2015, the company plans to ramp up the production volume to 3.50lakh units and will also offer additional variants of the Etios.

Looking at the booming rate of the Indian automotive sector, there has been a sea change in Toyota’s outlook towards its India operations. For the first time in history, Toyota has appointed non-Japenese suppliers to meet with their local demands. This is a huge step for a company obsessed with high quality standards. The move will help Toyota cut down cost and price the Etios in par to its competitors.

As per the company officials, the preparation to launch the Etios is running as per the schedule. The sedan version with 2 variants will be launched in the last quarter of this year and it will be followed by the hatchback, three months later. Sandeep Singh, deputy MD, marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said “It could be launched in December 2010 or by early 2011.”

According to the recent shipping quality audit report, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has bagged the No 1 spot for a car manufacturing plant in the world, which speaks volumes of their quality standards.