“How can you give airbags as standard features and stereo as an option? For me, stereo is important than airbags.”
This used to be the argument of customers at the Toyota outlets during second half of 2015 when the Japanese auto maker offered airbags as standard options in Etios and Liva models.
All that has changed now. “There are four people in my family. Does your model offer four airbags?” is the question that customers raise with dealers. The discussion is now more about air bags and its functionalities.
Indian car buyers are breaking the myth that safety doesn’t sell. They are ready to pay more for safety and are no longer fussy about it. Toyota sees this trend not just in cities, but also in smaller towns.
“The Indian government is talking about making airbags as standard options in cars this year. But we have done that in 2015 itself. Volumes of our Etios and Liva models grew in high single digit in 2016-17 and that was primarily due to the safety features and increasing attention towards safety,” says N Raja, Director & Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor. “Our prime focus in 2017 would be to highlight safety and technology as the USP in our models through some initiatives and campaigns,” he adds.
On the product side, Toyota will have all its variants with standard dual airbags apart from standard ABS features. It will also highlight the 4-star safety rating received by Etios for adult occupant protection from Global N-CAP.
Toyota will also push hybrid as the future technology among the customers. “In 2020, when BS-VI 6 becomes a norm, hybrids will play a lead role,” says Raja.
Now, Toyota is the only manufacturer of hybrid cars in India, while other companies bring those vehicles into the country as CBUs (completely build ups).
Last year, Toyota sold about 1,300 units of its premium sedan Camry and about 95 per cent of the volumes came from hybrid variants. It seeks to build on this momentum. It has also brought Prius, among the highest selling hybrid cars in the world, in India through CBU route.
Toyota also feels that with strong government support for localisation, prices of hybrid cars could come down and that would fuel the volumes.