After a decade of operations in India, Toyota is all set to embark on an exciting phase of its journey here. One that will see the company expand, grow and innovate. The phase begins with the launch of its compact car Etios slated to take place in December. Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD, Toyota Kirloskar Motor spoke with FE’s Rahul Sharma about Etios, the company’s future plans and strategy. Edited excerpts.
What are your plans for this year?
This year we plan to sell 70,000 cars, that is, almost 40% more than what we sold last year. The remaining time of this year will also be used to complete the construction of our second plant which will exclusively produce the soon to be launched compact car Etios. The car will hit the market by December this year. I cannot tell you the price yet, but it’ll compete with the likes of Swift and i20.
How do you plan to market Etios? What is the overall marketing strategy?
Etios was first showcased in the Auto Expo and we received a good response. Now we are taking this sedan and hatch to many cities, under the Q-World, which is like an exclusive Toyota auto expo. This is our brand awareness exercise. People in big cities have access to auto expos and showrooms, but the same cannot be said for smaller cities. It also brings confidence to our own sales and support staff across these cities. Also, the dealership network is being expanded to 150 in 2010. We believe that the key to the success of any product lies in quality products , good service and good customer care. We use advertising to communicate product details to our customers. On ground promotional activities like road shows, customer meets and sponsorship of various events are more fruitful.
Are you not late in entering the small car segment?
One of the main reasons is at Toyota we have a step by step philosophy. Once we reach a certain level, then we take another big step. Next year our next big step will come. Also we have created Etios from scratch. We carefully studied Indian conditions, consumers, road conditions and so on.
What is the next phase all about?
After a decade of stable operations, it?s time to jump up. We aim to capture at least 10% of the market in the next 10 years. This will be lead by innovation. There are a couple of other ideas as well. An R&D centre, an engine plant, expansion of the transmission plant and creation of an export base.
Also, we would like to work with tier 2 and tier 3 vendors, either through tier 1 or directly, to improve their quality and productivity. It?s not just about cost savings. It?s like a pyramid. If those at the bottom improve, the whole structure gets a boost.
How important is the Indian market to Toyota? And was there any impact of car recalls in US on the company’s perception here?
We sold 6 million cars globally last year. In India we sold 55,000. So the contribution is still small. Globally main markets are the US, Europe and Japan. But India, China and Brazil are the three shining stars.
There wasn’t any impact of car recalls in US over here. In fact, sales in January/February this year were almost double of what we did last year.
Do you plan to launch electric vehicles here?
It is one of the future models. But frankly speaking, it is sometime away. There are a couple of issues. The main issue is, of course, the battery capacity or capability. Currently the best choice is a hybrid vehicle. Here also,
I hope the government adjusts the tax levied so that these cars can be more affordable.