Toyota Kirloskar Motor sales decline 9 pc in February

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Monday reported a 9.1 per cent decline in total vehicle sales at 11,356 units in February as against 12,497 units in the same month last year.

In the domestic market, the company posted sales of 10,352 units last month, down 11.9 per cent from 11,760 units in February 2019, TKM said in a statement.

"We have smoothly transitioned to BS-VI manufacturing and started delivering BS-VI vehicles to our customers before the stipulated deadline of April 2020. A total of 31,853 BS-VI vehicles have been dispatched to our dealerships till date," TKM Senior Vice President (Sales and Service) Naveen Soni said.

In order to make the transition smoother for customers, the company has offered introductory pricing so as to not pass on the full increase of BS-VI product price at one go, he added.

The BS-VI petrol Yaris and Glanza have been well received last month while the company's flagship brands Innova Crysta and Fortuner continue to do well, Soni said.

"As we prepare to meet the evolving market sentiments, our efforts are to ramp up production to improve deliveries," he added.

Soni said in order to smoothen the transition, the company introduced the BS-VI Innova Crysta in January this year at an introductory offer.

"We have chosen not to pass on the full impact of an increase in cost to the consumers at the launch. We had to take a difficult decision, that we will not transfer the price in one go, we will have a stage-wise implementation. Having said that, in the long run, we would be forced to increase our prices in the mid-term," he noted.

Accordingly, while the consumer acceptance of BS-VI so far has been positive, the challenge in the upcoming months is to see how the customers will accept the full increased pricing once the introductory offer is phased out, Soni said.