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Toyota Motor board to discuss small car for India

K. Giriprakash

Toyota Kirloskar profit nearly quadruples


India story
Turnover up 20% last fiscal to touch Rs 3,550 cr
Sold 51,346 vehicles, an 18% growth over last year.
Wiped out accumulated losses of Rs 250-Rs 300 cr.

Bangalore April 5 The board of Toyota Motor Corporation is expected to meet towards the end of this month in Japan to discuss new projects for the emerging markets, including India.

Sources close to the company told Business Line that the board is likely to take up the issue of a small car for India and other emerging markets. However, no official confirmation was available from the Indian subsidiary, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Co, on this issue.

In another development, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has posted a profit of around Rs 110 crore during 2006-07, nearly 400 per cent more than the previous year. Its turnover for the same period increased 20 per cent to around Rs 3,550 crore.

The joint venture has already wiped out its accumulated losses of between Rs 250 crore and Rs 300 crore. Toyota has invested over Rs 1,500 crore in its Indian plant in Bidadi near Bangalore, which employs about 2,400 people.

Sales map

During 2006-07, Toyota Kirloskar sold a total of 51,346 vehicles, posting an 18 per cent growth over the last year. Between January and March 2007, the company's sales registered a 26 per cent increase over the same period last year.

In March alone, Toyota sold over 6,600 units including 5,411 units of Innova, 1,083 units of Corolla and a total of 197 units of Camry and Prado Landcruiser, both of which are imported.

Ruling out any immediate plans to launch a new Corolla, Toyota-Kirloskar's Managing Director, Mr A. Toyoshima, said the car has been able to attract customers both from the personal and corporate segments. Toyota Kirloskar had six months ago launched an executive class Corolla which has sold over 900 units. Worldwide, Corolla has sold over 32 million units.

Strengthening network

With regard to Innova, the company recently introduced a new variant, E-Grade for the corporate and travel segments, which has pushed the sales of the car further, a company official said.

During the last one year, Toyota has taken several initiatives to strengthen its service network. It recently launched an `express maintenance service' which enables servicing of its vehicles within 60 minutes. The entire initiative utilises the Toyota Production System and Kaizen methodologies.

Though it requires more people to service the car, it reduces the time by over one tenth, which allows the workshop to service more cars during the day. The company has also opened a technical training centre, which helps students to acquire the "skilled manufacturing'' technique.

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