Toyota mulling to establish new R&D unit in India

Toyota Motors, Japan based world's largest car maker is eying on establishing a Research & Development (R&D) center in India. Mr Hiroshi Nakagawa, Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), said in a statement that company is exploring the possibility of setting up a research and development facility and engine plant in India. The company currently has R&D  facilities in Japan and Thailand.

According to Mr Nakagawa the company is now considering India as an option to open its new R&D facility and the proposal is under discussion as of now. While commenting on the possibility of opening an engine plant in India he said that the company will establish the engine plant only after its sales in India crosses 200,000 units mark.

The Company is hiring around 2000 employees at its second plant in Bangalore where the company is investing about Rs 3,200 crore. TKM is aiming to sell 70,000 units of its cars in India in 2010, as against 55,000 units it sold in year 2009.

The company is also in the process of launching a new compact hatchback Toyota Etios in India by the end of this year. The Etios model will possibly be launched in the price range of Rs 3 to 5 lakh and will compete with popular cars in India in this segment including Chevrolet Beat, Hyundai I10, Ford Figo, Maruti Wagon R and Volkswagen Polo. The commercial production of this model has already been started at company's Bangalore plant.