Toyota steps up small car battle in India
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
NEW DELHI, Jan 5 (Reuters): Toyota Motor Co, seeking to draw a line under a dire 2009, is ramping up in India with the launch of a new low-cost compact car to tap the fast-growing market.
The world's largest automaker is a laggard in India, Asia's third biggest economy, and is facing increasing competition from rivals targeting one of the few bright spots in an industry ravaged by the global financial crisis.
At the Delhi Auto Expo, Honda Motor Co also unveiled a new compact car, a five-seater model being developed especially for India and other emerging markets that are quickly replacing major Western markets as a key battleground for auto firms.
"India will play a pivotal role in Toyota's global expansion plans and the time has come for us to strategically accelerate our growth here," Toyota Vice-Chairman Kazuo Okamoto told a media conference to mark the launch of its new compact car Etios.
Driven by the world's second-largest population, government incentives and a relatively strong domestic economy, Indian auto sales are set to grow about 16 percent this year to 1.4 million vehicles, after posting double-digit growth through most of 2009.
By comparison, US auto sales due later Tuesday are expected to show the market there slumping to its worst year since 1982, or possibly 1970.
This year, China is due to surpass the United States as the world's largest auto market with about 13 million vehicles sold.
Toyota, which has forecast an operating loss of 350 billion yen ($3.8 billion) in the year to March 2010 after the slump in the US market, said more than 2,000 engineers in India and Japan worked for four years on the Etios.
The car will go on sale later this year with a price tag of less than 500,000 rupees ($10,823).
"With the introduction of Etios, we hope to attain a sizeable market share in India in the shortest possible time," said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director of marketing at Toyota's local unit, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Honda's new family car based on the "Honda New Small Concept" unveiled in Delhi will hit showrooms in India and Thailand by 2011. It will be one of the 10 small cars due to be launched at India's Auto Expo this week.
Shinzo Nakanishi, chief executive officer of Maruti Suzuki, said the entry of so many new models would make it difficult for his company to defend its half share of the Indian market.
"This is not an easy job this year with so many new cars being launched," he said. "We have to prepare ourselves well for the competition with more products and with better network."
The world's largest automaker is a laggard in India, Asia's third biggest economy, and is facing increasing competition from rivals targeting one of the few bright spots in an industry ravaged by the global financial crisis.
At the Delhi Auto Expo, Honda Motor Co also unveiled a new compact car, a five-seater model being developed especially for India and other emerging markets that are quickly replacing major Western markets as a key battleground for auto firms.
"India will play a pivotal role in Toyota's global expansion plans and the time has come for us to strategically accelerate our growth here," Toyota Vice-Chairman Kazuo Okamoto told a media conference to mark the launch of its new compact car Etios.
Driven by the world's second-largest population, government incentives and a relatively strong domestic economy, Indian auto sales are set to grow about 16 percent this year to 1.4 million vehicles, after posting double-digit growth through most of 2009.
By comparison, US auto sales due later Tuesday are expected to show the market there slumping to its worst year since 1982, or possibly 1970.
This year, China is due to surpass the United States as the world's largest auto market with about 13 million vehicles sold.
Toyota, which has forecast an operating loss of 350 billion yen ($3.8 billion) in the year to March 2010 after the slump in the US market, said more than 2,000 engineers in India and Japan worked for four years on the Etios.
The car will go on sale later this year with a price tag of less than 500,000 rupees ($10,823).
"With the introduction of Etios, we hope to attain a sizeable market share in India in the shortest possible time," said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director of marketing at Toyota's local unit, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Honda's new family car based on the "Honda New Small Concept" unveiled in Delhi will hit showrooms in India and Thailand by 2011. It will be one of the 10 small cars due to be launched at India's Auto Expo this week.
Shinzo Nakanishi, chief executive officer of Maruti Suzuki, said the entry of so many new models would make it difficult for his company to defend its half share of the Indian market.
"This is not an easy job this year with so many new cars being launched," he said. "We have to prepare ourselves well for the competition with more products and with better network."