Toyota Etios is set to roll out on December 1. Even after being in the country for more than a decade, Toyota’s overall market share in the auto industry has remained less than 4%, though it enjoys strong market positions in segments where it is present in. Etios, which will be launched in the mid-size sedan and compact car categories, is expected to double Toyota’s sales from next year.
PricewaterhouseCoopers leader–auto practice Abdul Majeed said, ?Etios launch will be crucial for Toyota to increase its sales numbers. Any car manufacturer should have presence in ‘A’ and ‘B’ segments to record good volumes in sales. Globally, Toyota has tremendous brand value and now they are entering into the volume segments in India. Etios should enjoy a great advantage.?
Growth in the ‘B’ segment has been tremendous in the country with record sales of 8.9 lakh cars in the first six months of the current financial year, registering a growth of 44%, compared to 6.17 lakh units in the same period a year ago. During the same period, overall passenger car sales increased to 1.4 million unit from one million unit.
TKM deputy managing director Sandeep Singh told FE, ?The company was thus far in the top end car segment in India, representing 11-12% of the Indian car market. He said the company will first launch the sedan model of Etios with petrol engine while the hatchback will hit the Indian roads during March-April 2011.
The company has built its second manufacturing units in Bangalore to produce Etios at a cost of over Rs 3,200 crore. The plant will have an initial capacity of 70,000 units and it can be scaled up to 2 lakh units if required.
?We will not compromise on quality. But still will adopt competitive pricing for the cars,? he added. Etios will first meet the domestic requirements and later it would be exported, primarily to emerging markets. Industry sources said the price of the Etios sedan, which will sport a 1500 cc petrol engine, is expected be in the range of Rs 5.1 to Rs 5.3 lakh.
The ‘B’ segment is dominated by the cars like Maruti Swift, Volkswagen Polo, Santro, i10 and i120 models of Hyundai, Chevrolet Beat and is a highly competitive segment.
Currently, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) manufactures luxury sedan Corolla Altis, multi-purpose vehicle-Innova, and SUV-Fortuner in India while the models like Prado, Land Cruiser, Camry and Prius are imported as completely built units (CBUs). The company expects to close the current year with the sales of 73,000 units, up from 54,500 vehicles sold in the last year.