We have seen the shift towards diesel in the automotive market owing to the high rise in petrol prices and the subsidy which diesel fuel enjoys. Seeing the growing demand of diesel fuelled cars, all the auto manufacturers are contemplating on putting more focus on developing their diesel portfolio for the Indian market. At the 2012 Auto Expo, Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) announced that the company is looking at setting up a diesel plant in India in the near future. However, their decision will be heavily based on the future policy decisions that the Government takes towards the pricing of the diesel at the forthcoming Budget in February, 2012.

“We will wait till the Budget. After that, we will look at the feasibility of setting up a diesel engine plant in India,” Shekar Viswanathan, Deputy MD (Commercial), Toyota India, said.

The demand for the diesel versions of the company’s latest models, the Toyota Etios and the Etios Liva has seen a sharp rise in demand. In 2011, the company managed to sell 63,575 units of Etios and the Liva, of which the diesel portfolio shared 70%. Inspite of the sharp rise, Mr. Vishwanathan added that it was too early to say anything and refused to divulge any further details. Toyota’s rival and the country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited also has similar plans on expanding their diesel capacity once the government policies are made clear. Mr. Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director, Maruti Suzuki India Limited said that the company doesn’t want to announce any news of further investment unless the policy is made clear. He also added that usually a diesel engine plant setup takes about Rs. 1000 crores which is a considerable investment and risk in the face of unclear government policies.

The Japanese auto giant, Toyota has launched the face-lifted versions of its MPV, the Innova and its SUV, the Fortuner at the 2012 Auto Expo today. The Innova and Fortuner have received only cosmetic upgrades and no significant changes have been made to any stuff that liew beneath the hood though. The Innova facelift now retails between Rs. 9.4 – 13.19 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) while to own the new Fortuner, you will have to shell out Rs. 19.99 lakhs for the 4×2 Manual, Rs 20.69 lakhs for the 4×2 Automatic and Rs 20.99 lakhs for the 4×4 Manual (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi). On the exterior, the Toyota Innova has received changes in terms of restyled headlamps, front grille and the front bumper. The headlights have received a more swept back design and the front grille gets a thick chrome treatment all around it giving it a sportier front fascia. The front bumper also has triangular shaped housings for fog lamps and a large air dam intake at the center.

At the rear, not much has been changed though. The overall look is still retained while the tail lamps receive some minor design changes and an addition of a thick chrome strip above the number plate housing. On the interior, the first noticeable change is the 4 spoke steering wheel taken straight out of the Camry. The steering wheel gets audio controls and many more features. The centre console also gets a new audio system and a reverse guide system. Touches of chrome are found on the steering wheel and the centre along with addition of wooden finish below it giving an upmarket feel to the cabin. The major change Toyota is bringing in the Innova is eliminating its notoriously high waiting period, considering its dominance in the MPV segment till date. The Fortuner too, like the Innova receives cosmetic changes at the front and the back with restyled headlamps, bumpers and front grille. Under the hood, the Innova continues to be powered by the2.5 litre petrol and 2.0 litre diesel engines while the Fortuner is powered by Toyota’s 3.0 litre D-4D diesel engine.

The Japanese auto major, Toyota Motor Corporation is finally launching the face-lifted version of its very popular MPV, the Innova with which it has dominated the Indian MPV market for the past several years. To add more excitement and action to the Indian auto scenario, it is also launching the facelift of the Fortuner, the much sought after SUV. The facelifts being brought in are just cosmetic changes and there has been no significant changes made under the hood. The facelifted Innova and Fortuner will be launched in the Indian market on the 5th of January, 2012.

On the exterior, the facelifted Innova gets newly designed head lamps on the front along with a revised front grille with chrome finish to give it a sportier look. However, overall design language of practicality still prevails in the current model. It does get some central line running backwards over the hood. The Toyota Innova also gets a new front bumper design with triangular shapes housings for fog lamps and a large intake dam below the front grille. On the rear though not much gets changed and the existing design is retained to a large extent. The rear tail lamps get some slight design changes. On the interior, the dashboard also gets carried over from its older sibling. However, the facelift gets the Camry styled steering wheel with audio controls giving an upmarket feel to the cabin. All these changes are likely to make the Innova a bit pricier than the current one. The Fortuner similarly gets cosmetic upgrades on the exterior in the form of restyled headlamps and bumpers. Under the hood, it is still going to be powered by the existing 3.0-liter D-4D engine while the Innova will have the-2.5 liter diesel and the 2.0-liter petrol motors.

Toyota has already confirmed that the 2012 Fortuner and Innova facelifts will be showcased at the upcoming Auto Expo and will be launched next month. The cars have been spotted multiple times in different locations across the country. Now both the vehicles sans camouflage were spotted in Bangalore. The facelift is not a major one and is a mid-life mild change to keep the Fortuner and Innova looking fresh. The rise in input costs due to the depreciating Rupee has led almost all automakers into hiking prices and Toyota is one of them. The facelifts to these IMV cars will help Toyota justify the price hike easily to prospective customers.

The biggest change with the launch of the Innova facelift is the increase in production of the MPV. Till date the Innova was commanding a high waiting period, which will be eliminated with the launch of the facelifted model. The Fortuner will now get more variants, including a 2-wheel drive and an automatic version. Both the cars will have no mechanical changes and will continue to use the same powertrains as the current models. Either way, both these offerings look more appealing with the slight upgrade which they get next month.

Source – Autocar India

Toyota Kirloskar Motors is going to raise the prices of its entire range of vehicles assembled in India by up to 3%. This is one of the steepest price hikes by the company over a long time. The price rise will come into effect from January 1. The price hike decision of the company is mainly due to the depreciating value of the rupee against the yen. The final rates of price hike will be decided by the end of this month. However, the price hike will vary for different models.

“For the last three months, we have been absorbing the pressure of currency fluctuations. Now we have decided to pass on some burden to customers. We will raise the prices by 1.5-3 per cent from January 1,” Sandeep Singh, Deputy MD (Marketing), Toyota India, said.

He has also announced that the highest price rise will happen for its SUV, the Fortuner which will be aroung Rs. 50,000/-. He supported the action of price hike by adding that generally the company raises its product prices by 1 to 2%. But in the recent times, the depreciation of rupee against the yen has really impacted the profit margins of the company. This is the reason the company is forced to take such a step. Toyota Kirloskar has already raised its prices three times in this year in the months of April, July and October which amounts to a total of about 5%. The depreciation in rupee against the yen has put huge pressures on the Japanese auto makers who import components from overseas markets, especially Japan. Other car makers like Maruti Suzuki and General Motors are also considering on increasing the prices of their vehicles.

The Japanese auto major, Toyota and the Bavarian auto giant, BMW have entered into a partnership in which the two companies will be jointly conducting research on new battery technologies and green vehicles and BMW will be supplying diesel engines to the Japanese auto company. In addition to the extensive battery research on the lithium-ion storage technologies, the companies will also be discussing on environmental technology projects. The Toyota-BMW deal seems to be a win-win strategy for both the companies. Toyota doesn’t have a good line-up of diesel engines with itself. With the BMW partnership, Toyota will be sourcing the BMW diesel engines and increase its presence in the diesel dominated markets like Europe and India.

BMW has a strong engine portfolio but is slightly lacking in expertise on future green technologies and also advanced battery technologies. With Toyota already having significant experience in this line, BMW can take advantage of this expertise to develop better cars for the future. Also, Toyota sourcing diesel engines from BMW will help the Bavarian company to increase its economies of scale by reducing the cost per single engine manufactured. It is expected that Toyota will be sourcing the 1.6-liter and the 2.0-liter engines from BMW starting 2014. This is the first time; Toyota is sourcing engines from any outside supplier. Earlier, Toyota used to supply diesel engines of 1.6-liter capacity to BMW for its MINI from 2002 to 2005.

The Japanese car major, Toyota has announced that it has plans to enter into the motorsport culture of India. Toyota is planning to do so under the name of Toyota Racing Development, the motorsport arm of Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota has announced its plans to enter into the Indian motorsport with a one make series. The race is due to arrive sometime in mid 2012 is going to be similar to the touring car championships and will be held in all the 3 motorsport tracks of India; the Buddh International Circuit at Noida, the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore and the Madras Motorsports Track in Chennai.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors will be providing the cars and the engine for this race of one-make series. However, unlike the Volkswagen Polo Cup it will only be run by the company. The company will be providing about 25 to 30 cars for the motorsport championship. The cars will be sold to the teams or the members who will be participating in the event series. The teams will be stripping down and rebuilding the cars according to their own specifications. Toyota Racing Development is currently in talks with the FIA for getting approvals to conduct the series. A detailed announcement in respect to this is expected to be made at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo to be held in January.

Source – BS Motoring

Toyota developed the Etios platform with the sole reason of developing low cost models which are intended for economically growing markets like India and Brazil. The Etios, although couldn’t garner the much expected sales volumes that the company was expecting however did turn out to do decent numbers. The Japanese automaker first rolled out the Etios sedan based on the Etios platform and then within months followed it with the launch of the hatchback version, the Etios Liva. Currently, the company is contemplating on building a SUV apart from its already hot selling Innova. There have been strong rumours also that the company will be building this SUV on the Etios platform only. This information was tweeted by Autocar India Editor Hormazd Sorabjee. This low cost SUV development is still in its nascent stage and a Rs. 10-12 lakh pricing bracket is already being speculated.

At this price point, this SUV is directly going to compete with the currently hot favourite Mahindra XUV500 which comes with loads of features. So, Toyota should better plan their product very well in order to provide good competition to the already existing products. A 5-seater SUV with all the modern features will definitely make good sense as a product in the market provided doesn’t do some Etios style cost cutting to gain advantage in the price point. In the Etios, there have been many compromises made at various places in terms of design and selection and quality of materials which hasn’t gone down very well with the customers. Similarly the Liva too has suffered in sales due to these factors. If Toyota is really planning to build and SUV, they should do something in the lines of their already existing product, the Toyota RAV4 for a price bracket of Rs. 10 to 12 lakhs.

The Japanese auto majors, Toyota and Honda have started to look for new alternative suppliers for its components after the recent floods in Thailand, which is a key component supplier in the Asian markets, have completely disrupted their operations in India. Toyota is estimated to be incurring a loss of about 800 to 1000 vehicles or 8 to 10% of the total output due to the disruption in supply. The parts meant for Philippines and Indonesia are being diverted to the Indian facility to keep up with the production to control the waiting period of Innova and the Fortuner customers in India. Similarly, Honda Siel has has suffered output losses of more than 60 to 70%. The company is in talks with Chinese and Japanese suppliers to restore production normalcy in India.

“Toyota Motor Asia Pacific has given India the top-most priority. It is helping us by sourcing and diverting components, meant for Indonesia and Japan, here to sustain our good growth. Through this arrangement we will have spare parts supply till the end of the month,” Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director, marketing, Toyota India, said.

Key engine components for the Fortuner and Innova are imported by Toyota from Thailand while Honda Siel imports electronic and under-body parts. Toyota has said that its supplies are secure till the end of November though the exact scenario will be known by this month end. For Honda the condition is much worse. The company has been forced to stop production of its City and Brio since the company has run out of key critical components for these models. The waiting period for Jazz and Brio has run into 3 to 6 months and the company has already stopped bookings for the Jazz. If such conditions persist, the company might be forced to stop bookings for the Brio as well. For the Innova and the Fortuner, the waiting period is 4 months and 4-6 months respectively. However, there has been no impact on its small car Liva and the sedan, Etios which forms more than 50% of the total sales volumes.

Toyota India has commenced export operations of the Etios and Etios Liva to South Africa. The export versions of the Etios would have a few changes in technical specifications and features to suit the needs of the South African market. Toyota will export the petrol versions of the Made in India cars, which are manufactured at the outskirts of Bangalore. While both these cars have high local content, the engine is being imported from the company’s Japanese plant.

“With the start of exports, TKM has entered a new chapter of business in India. This milestone is a defining moment for all of us at TKM. Exporting the Etios to South Africa would also mean showcasing the advanced technology and superior quality features that have been developed by Toyota for Etios. We are convinced that the Etios will be successful in delivering Toyota’s promise of quality in South Africa too,” Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD, Toyota India, said.