Toyota recently announced that they would be making an investment of INR 1,650 crores for increasing their production capacity in their Indian operations to 1 lakh vehicles per annum. They also plan on increasing local components in their vehicles by 2014.
Toyota, present in India through their JV with Kirloskar Group, will make an investment to the tune of INR 898 crores for expanding their production capacity in their existing two facilities in India by 2013. Another group company will also invest an additional INR 750 crores for opening machining and aluminium casting lines by 2014.
According to a statement released by the company, the company plans to increase their production capacity to about 3,10,000 vehicles per annum by 2013. This expansion will be possible with the investment of INR 898 crores approx. and will also generate new opportunities of employment.
The company is presently expanding their capacity in their plants in Bangalore from the current 1.5 lakh vehicles to 2.1 lakh vehicles by 2012. The first facility will produce the MPV, the Innova and the SUV Fortuner. Their second plant will produce the Corolla Altis and Etios sedans, and their Liva hatchback.
The MD of the company, Hiroshi Nakagawa, was quoted as saying that to keep with the increasing demand for their vehicles, they have decided on further increasing their production in India. The demand for their Etios Liva and Etios has been quite encouraging, and they are gearing to cater a higher number of customers.
Last month, the company made the decision of launching their small car Liva in India, which has so far got 4,000 bookings. Their Etios sedan that was launched back in December 2011, also received a great response, forcing Toyota to increase their capacity earlier than they had planned.
The company also said that they would be increasing the use of local components in the Liva and Etios, with their auto parts company planning on commissioning and installing machining and aluminum casting lines by 2014. It added that this installation will witness a further investment to the tune of INR 750 crores, and also bring in new opportunities of employment.
The lines will be installed in the company’s new Liva and Etios engine plant that is scheduled to begin operations in 2012’s third quarter. The company had earlier made an announcement of opening an engine facility and increasing their production capapcity for transmissions so as to cater to the increased demand for their Liva and Etios models, with a total investment of INR 500 crores.
In addition to this, the company will also begin manufacturing transmissions for the Liva and Etios in 2013. They are also planning on exporting these gears to overseas markets. The chairman of the company, Vikram Kirloskar stated that the Etios Liva and Etios are designed to specifically suit the Indian auto market. It is vital to have a localisation project for providing the best quality vehicle at an economical price.