Toyota relaxes hold on new investments in India

Toyota Kirloskar Motors had earlier announced that the company was re-looking into its Indian operations, and had thus scrapped plans of any new investments in the country. This step was primarily taken after the setback that the Japanese automaker faced due to the Diesel car ban in Delhi and NCR. But with the Supreme Court now scrapping the said ban, Toyota too has decided to remove the freeze on fresh investments in India. As a result, the automaker is now planning to launch new models in the country.

This announcement was made by Hiroyuki Fukui, Chief Executive Officer for Asia, Middle East & North Africa region at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC). He also cleared that the automaker will be developing and introducing new models that are in-line with the Indian customer requirements. The CEO went on to mention that the company is currently using just half of its total production capacity in India. As a result, in order to fill up the capacity, new products are being worked on in Japan.

Company officials have also suggested that Toyota is now again considering launching the Lexus and Daihatsu brands in India. While Lexus is Toyota's luxury arm, Daihatsu will help the company to target entry level, budget oriented segments.

Source: ET Auto