Toyota Kirloskar November sales decline 26%

Company says sales fell due to shut down of a plant to ramp up the annual production

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today reported a 26% decline in sales at 10,352 units during November 2012.

It had sold 13,956 units in the same month last year, TKM said in a statement.

TKM, a joint venture between Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and the Kirloskar Group, said the sales growth fell due to shut down of a plant to ramp up the annual production.

"The sales have dropped this month due to a plant shut down to ramp up the annual production capacity from 2,10,000 units to 3,10,00 units for the next calendar year," TKM Deputy Managing Director, Marketing, Sandeep Singh said in a statement.

The first plant manufacturing Innova and Fortuner was shut down for a week and the second plant manufacturing Etios, Etios Liva and Camry was shut down for a period of 15 days, he added.

"The market is yet to pick up pace. We hope to see growth next month due to the year ending sales. The market is expected to grow in the first quarter of next year," Singh said.

TKM's Etios series registered 48.8% decline in sales during the month at 4,231 units compared to 8,271 units in November 2011.

The Innova sales stood at 4,682 units last month against 4,308 units in November last year, a growth of 9%.

The sales of Fortuner was at 1,025 units compared to 860 units in November last year, up 19%.

Camry sales stood at 46 units in November while that of Corolla Altis stood at 362 units, TKM said.