The Hindu Business Line : Innova’s higher-end models driving up sales

Bangalore, Aug. 21 A change in customer profile is helping to boost the demand for Toyota Innova with sales expected to nearly double to around 4,500 vehicles a month.

The Deputy Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar, Mr Sandeep Singh, told Business Line that there has been a 10-15 per cent shift towards the higher-end models from the lower end, leading to 90 per cent of the sales of the car coming from the top-end variants.

“There are more number of families buying the car and it is also being used by senior-level executives of corporate houses,” Mr Singh said.

When the Innova was launched, most of the sales came from the lower-end variants. A year ago, sales for the Innova were down to between 2,000 and 2,500 units a month but it has now gone up to about 4,500 units a month. “But for production constraints, we would have sold more,” he said.

The higher-end variant of the Innova is at least 25 per cent more expensive than the lower-end variant.

The sales growth is expected to help the Japanese car maker exceed last year’s sales of 52,000 cars during the current calendar year.

Mr Singh said even sports utility vehicle Fortuner, which is being launched next week, has got confirmed bookings for 2,500 units. Toyota Kirloskar expects to sell about 4,500 of these vehicles next year.

Mr Singh said sales of sports utility vehicles had gone down by about 50 per cent during the last three months. He said the Fortuner is expected to expand the market segment.

The SUV, which is expected to be priced at about Rs 20 lakh, will compete with Chevrolet Captiva, Ford Endeavor and Honda CR-V.

Mr Singh said a new parts warehouse in Pune will be set up soon. The company has a warehouse each in Gurgaon and Bangalore.

More Stories on : Outlook | Performance | Cars

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page