Toyota plans more than one Small Car for India

Toyota will drive in more than one small car in India and each of them will have both petrol and diesel versions. The Japanese car major is pumping in fresh Rs 1,400 crore to consolidate its position in one of the world’s fastest-growing market.Despite dominating the global auto industry, Toyota is a laggard in India and had a poor 3.5% market share in 2007-08. The company was working aggressively to change fortunes in India, to make it a big-volume market.Small cars, that account for as much as 75% of car volumes in India, are not there in Toyota Kirloskar’s stable at present and the company’s first priority is to add them in line-up to get volumes. The company plans to have at least one model around the entry-level car segment where the majority of volumes exist. Also, its cars would be within the small car definition of government—below 1200-cc in petrol and below 1500cc in diesel—to take advantage of lower excise duty.With technical expertise, Toyota will be able to make pricing competitive for the Indian market.The company, that is expanding at its current manufacturing location at Bidadi (near Bangalore in Karnataka) for the small car, is also confident that many of its key and strategic suppliers would relocate there.The company occupies a plot of around 430-acre at Bidadi, though currently it is using only about 100 acres.