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Car maker Toyota Kirloskar expects a Rs 200-crore hit to its bottomline this fiscal following a steep depreciation of the rupee.
The Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Deputy Managing Director, Mr Shekar Viswanathan, told Business Line that rupee depreciation could result in the company posting a loss for this fiscal though the turnover might grow to Rs 13,000 crore.
During the previous fiscal, TKM posted a Rs 300-crore profit while the topline was at Rs 9,300 crore (inclusive of duty).
The substantial increase in the turnover this fiscal is largely because of sale of components, apart from strong sales of Etios as well as Liva cars.
Mr Viswanathan also said that if the rupee continues to fall, TKM may have to resort to some borrowings for the expansion of the second plant.
For the next fiscal, the company might look at a rate much higher than Rs 50 while preparing the budget. “Frankly, the current value of the rupee is the true value of the rupee,” Mr Viswanathan said.
Toyota Kirloskar is a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and the Kirloskar Systems.
It recently announced a total investment of Rs 1,650 crore to increase production capacity of its plants here by 1 lakh units to 3.1 lakh units and for further localisation of components by 2014.
Mr Viswanathan said the company is putting together a plan to further increase localisation content in its cars and also in its plants as well. “This will help us to tide over any further fall in the rupee,” he said.
Imports of components hit
The current year has not been a particularly good year for the company as the tsunami in Japan and later floods in Thailand affected imports of key components for its passenger car production in India.
The car-maker will also start exporting about 1,000 units of Etios compact car from March and is likely to use the Ennore port in Tamil Nadu for shipping them. The company has sought better infrastructure inside the port area for transporting the cars.
TKM expects bigger revenues from export of cars to other countries.
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