Toyota says sales to nearly treble in 2011

A senior executive from Toyota Motors said on Wednesday that the company sees its sales close to trebling in 2011 from last year because of the sales of its compact Etios cars getting under way. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is expecting to sell 150,000 vehicles next year where a major portion, close to half to be precise, would come from Etios, which would be launched next year.

Deputy Managing Director Sandeep Singh said that if the company produces 70,000 Etios cars then the sales would be somewhere between 65,000 to 67,000 units. This compact car Eltios is being manufactured at a second plant which is situated near Bangalore. This plant has an initial capacity of 70,000 units.

Hiroshi Nakagawa, Toyota's India head ruled out any possibility of producing a car smaller than Etios. In the beginning of this month, Toyota said that it would invest $103 million to produce engines and transmission systems for Etios.

The other products of Toyota include Innova, Fortuner, Corolla Altis and Camry sedans, Prius hybrid and the Land Cruiser. The company had sold 55,497 vehicles in India in the year 2009. TKM is also expecting its sales to rise to more than 70,000 units this year.

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