Posted on Nov. 22, 2005
Toyota Kirloskar Motor has reached a milestone in the Indian automobile market. The Company recently rolled out its 2,00,000th domestically - produced vehicle from its production facility in Bidadi, Bangalore.
While the production of 1st lakh was achieved in 4 years (1999-2003), producing the second lakh was achieved in less than half that time (2003-2005). This has been a result of Toyota stepping up its production capacity at the Bidadi plant from 20,000 units in the year 2000 to 60,000 units last year.
"This is an indication of dedication and hard work of all our team members and Toyota's commitment to India. Over the years we have increased the production capacity as Corolla and Innova both have gained remarkable acceptance in the Indian market with both products becoming category leaders," said Mr. A. Toyoshima, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Toyota Innova, India's first 3-row seating passenger car has registered mammoth sales of 27000 units since launch achieving leadership across MPV, Mid-size sedan and above category. This is by far the fastest growing car model in the Indian Automobile Industry achieving record unit sales in just over 8 months. In addition to the MPV customers, Toyota Innova has also attracted the Passenger Car buyer, which contributes to 25% of total Innova sales.
Toyota Corolla, India's largest selling car in the Executive Segment is now even more attractive with a host of practical features and styling changes. Toyota recently launched the New Corolla with an aim to further consolidate its leadership in the C+ segment. Toyota Corolla commands a class leadership of 31 % of the discerning executive segment in India with sales of 7685 units between January and October 2005.
We are rightly poised to launch into the next phase of growth of Toyota in India. With our dealership network increasing from 22 in early 2000 to 51 this year, we hope to intensify sales and marketing efforts to make our products achieve further dominance in the Indian market.