Corolla Altis, Etios, Fortuner limited editions by Oct-end

Toyota to launch new editions to boost sales during the festive season

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited (TKML), the Indian subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp of Japan, is set to launch new variants of its existing models by end of this month to boost sales during the festival season.

The company, which reported 5.4% decline in its year-on-year sales in September, is launching limited editions of Corolla Altis, Etios sedan and sports utility vehicle Fortuner.

“We will make an announcement on the launch of limited editions of these models between October 15 and 20. We will launch the models by the end of October with some attractive features,” Hiroshi Nakagawa, Managing Director, TKML said.

He said the limited editions are being launched to boost the sales of the company during the festival season.

“We have received encouraging response for the limited editions of Etios Liva and Innova launched recently. We have sold 450 units out of a target of 1,000 vehicles of Liva. We have just launched limited edition of Innova called Innova Aero. There will be some attractive additional features in all these models,” he told Business Standard.

Toyota plans to sell 600 units of Fortuner, 1,000 units of Etios sedan and 400 units of Corolla Altis. These models would carry a slightly higher price tag with some new features, Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director (Marketing), TKML said.

“We are launching limited editions of existing models to create new excitement for our vehicles in the market as we don’t have any new model to launch in the next one year. However, we are preparing to launch the new generation Corolla sometime in 2014 globally. Until then, we will launch limited editions for all our existing vehicles,” he said.

During the month of September 2012, Toyota sold 12,115 vehicles as against 12,807 vehicles in the corresponding month last fiscal, showing a decline of 5.4%. However, Innova registered a 23% growth with 5,858 units being sold as compared to 4,765 units sold in September last year.

The Fortuner registered a growth of 21%. It sold 1,301 units last month as compared to 1,078 units in the corresponding month last year.

Etios series sold 4,440 units as compared to 5,926 units in the corresponding month last year.

The newly launched Camry, now locally manufactured in India, sold 85 units last month. Corolla Altis sold 424 units in September.

Toyota manufactures Corolla Altis, Etios and Liva, Innova, Fortuner and Camry at its factory in Bidadi near Bangalore. It imports Prado, Prius and Land Cruiser as completely built units and sells in India.

The company has set up two manufacturing plants in Bidadi with a capacity of 90,000 units in the first plant and 110,000 units in the second plant. Presently, it is expanding the capacity of both the plants to a combined capacity of 310,000 units by March 2012.