The Hindu Business Line : Toyota expects to sell 54,000 vehicles

NEW LOOK: Mr K.K. Swamy, Deputy Managing Director, Toyota-Kirloskar Motor Company, at the launch of the new-look Toyota Corolla in the Capital on Friday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Sept. 23

TOYOTA Kirloskar Motor Ltd (TKML) said on Friday that it aims to sell 54,000 vehicles this year, even as it is evaluating options, including setting up a new plant, to increase capacity.

"With Innova remaining our growth driver, we expect to sell a total of about 54,000 units across all models this year," the TKML Deputy Managing Director, Mr K.K. Swamy, told reporters here while launching the new Corolla. TKML had sold about 46,000 units in 2004.

"Innova has sold 23,000 units so far, and we are looking at a total of 42,000 units to be sold this year," Mr Swamy said. The newly launched Corolla would add to the total of 11,000 units targeted for this year, he said, adding that the higher-end model Camry and SUV Prado Land Cruiser were expected to clock a combined sales of 1,000 units.

The new Corolla, with 18 added features, comes in two versions of manual and automatic transmissions, priced at Rs 10.79 lakh and Rs 12.22 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), respectively.

While the new manual transmission version would be costlier by Rs 8,000, the automatic transmission would be dearer by Rs 25,000, he said.

Asked about progress on the small car project, Mr Swamy said: "It is pretty much on but it is too early to say anything on that front right now. As stated before, we are aiming to achieve 10 per cent of the total car market in India by 2010 with about 250,000 vehicles sold. By 2015, we are looking at 15 per cent of the market share with about 600,000 units."

"To achieve this kind of growth, we do definitely need to have presence in the small and compact car segment," he said, but declined to disclose any details on the project and the proposed second plant.

Mr Toyohiko Ino, Director, Marketing Division, TKML, meanwhile said that a feasibility study for setting up the second plant was currently on. The installed capacity at TKML's plant in Bangalore is 60,000 units.

Toyota also plans to source auto components from domestic suppliers for its global factories as part of efforts to cut production costs. According to Mr Swamy, the company was studying the possibility of sourcing various components and even steel from India.

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