Toyota Motor Corp. says its recent global recalls didn’t apply to any vehicles sold in India, nor does it expect the problems to slow its growth plans for the market.
Hiroshi Nakagawa, who heads the automaker’s Toyota Kirloskar Motors venture, tells Reuters that the company expects to hike unit sales 15% to about 63,800 this year. He also says the company’s ambitious plans remain on track to double its sales in India within the next 5-7 years, increasing its market share to 10% from 3% today.
In two separate campaigns, Toyota is recalling some 8.1 million vehicles worldwide to address design issues in a variety of Toyota and Lexus models that could cause the throttle to remain open after the accelerator pedal is released. An additional 300,000 current model Prius hybrid cars worldwide are expected to be recalled this week under a third initiative that involves that vehicle’s antilock brake software.
Toyota Kirloskar assembles the domestic-market Corolla at a facility in Bangalore and imports the Camry from Japan. Vehicles built in Japan and India weren’t included in either of the first two recalls, and the Prius has not been introduced yet in India.
Vehicles built in Bangalore currently have a domestic content of about 40%-50%. Nakagawa says this will eventually grow to close to 100%. About 70%-80% of the new Etios small car is expected to be sourced locally when it bows late this year. The vehicle, which was unveiled last month at the New Delhi auto show, is designed specifically for India and other emerging markets. Most Etios models will be built at a second factory under construction that will more than double Toyota’s annual capacity in India to 150,000 units.