The Hindu Business Line : `Innova'-ted for the customer

With increasing price competition and new models, manufacturers often fall back on this oft-resorted-to marketing strategy — making anniversary offers. If it is an industry-wide `poor sales' month, as February normally is, such offers make sense for both the buyer and the carmaker.

Toyota is adopting this strategy now for its multi-purpose vehicle, the Innova. When we profiled the Innova last year after its launch, we had said that it would take time establishing itself as the vehicle of choice in the taxi segment even as it will be preferred in the family van (individual owner) segment. The trends point towards this direction.

It is a year since the Innova was launched and Toyota has put together a new variant and tweaked the features in some of the others to make them more attractive. The changes to the Innova are supposedly the result of direct customer feedback that Toyota has been collating since the vehicle was introduced in February last.

Feedback from Innova customers indicate that though they are happy with the performance of the vehicle, they feel that seating options should be increased across variants to improve the vehicle's versatility.

So Toyota Kirloskar Motor has just introduced a new variant — the G4 Innova — as part of the first anniversary celebrations; the primary focus is to provide more luxury and comfort to customers at a competitive price. Company officials have said that a large number of customers had asked for dual air-conditioners (one at the front and the other for the third row of seats) and a high-end, 1-DIN (radio/cassette) music system. And that is what they will get in the new variant.

In addition, Toyota has introduced a seven-seater option in the entry-level and mid-level variants, and an eight-seater option in the higher-trim Innova. Toyota officials say that the new eight-seater version in the `V Grade' is primarily targeted at families who prefer the extra capacity to the exclusivity that the seven-seater offers. Again, these new variants have been rolled out based on feedback that the company received from customers.

The G4 replaces the earlier G-3 variant. The new trim variant is available with both the two-litre VVT-i petrol and 2.5-litre D-4D diesel engine options. The G-4 will not offer keyless entry, a feature that was available in the G3, but will continue to sport an immobiliser.

Though Toyota has not focused its marketing efforts much at the taxi segment of the MPV market, the company has apparently made changes to the lower trim variants that are primarily targeted at customers in this category. So, tourist taxi operators will also have reason to cheer with a new 7-seater version being introduced in the E grade.

The eight-seater G-4 with the 2.5-litre diesel engine costs Rs 8.64 lakh and the two-litre petrol engine variant, Rs 8.04 lakh. The new 7-seater G4 diesel comes at Rs 8.58 lakh (the prices are ex-showroom, Chennai).

Since the Innova's launch on February 24, 2005, over 40,000 units have been sold. It has appealed to both MPV and high-end sedan buyers looking for more space to accommodate passengers and luggage. While the diesel variant has, since introduction, been successful in drawing customers from both the high-end taxi (such as BPO/ITES and hotel shuttles) and individual buyer segments, the petrol variant of the Innova has been able to draw customers from the sedan market, albeit to a lesser extent than expected.

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