Toyota Kirloskar Motor is quite upbeat about the present market sentiment for the automobile industry. Its Director and Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing), N Raja, said that the automobile industry witnessed double digit growth in June after many months. “We see a positive trend; footfalls at showrooms have gone up during the past fortnight. We are looking forward to the festive season response this year,” he said.

The company launched Corolla Altis during the first half of this calendar year and has so far sold close to 19,000 vehicles in India, he said. “We are aiming to be the market leader in this segment of cars. Last month alone, we supplied around 900 cars. Now, the waiting period for delivery of Corolla Altis is two months.”Asked if the company plans to introduce the Lexus in India, he said, “Yes, but Toyota is looking for an appropriate time to roll out this vehicle here.” He attributed the delay to fluctuations in the dollar rate.

On investment, he said, “We have the plant capacity to manufacture one lakh vehicles under Plan I and 2.10 lakh vehicles under Plan II. We are looking to strengthen capacity, but are not looking at cars that are priced in the sub-₹4 lakh segment.”

On price revision, he said, “We are under constant pressures on the pricing front. (The effects of) cost push are there, but we have not increased the price till now.’

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