Toyota seeks to win share from Maruti in Indian auto market

The new Toyota Etios compact of Toyota Motor Corporation will be available in half the cost of its cheapest model available in India because the auto giant intends to win share from Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. It has also been planned that the new product will be sold in the Chinese and Brazilian market as well and it will be available in the price range of Maruti Swift compact. Maruti Alto, which is the best selling car in India contributes thirteen percent of auto sales of India.

Hiroshi Nakagawa, managing director of Toyota’s India unit commented that the auto market of India is one of the toughest markets in the world. He further added that the Indian customers as well as the and car owners are quite cost-conscious. The Toyota Etios model of the company expresses the struggle of Toyota in balancing sales in the low-cost car segments in the coming up markets. The company is reducing the prices for its new product by raising the quantity of parts purchased in India. The  Executive Vice President Yukitoshi Funo said that coming up with the procurement price to a very competitive level is a do or die challenge for the company’s production team. The compact Toyota Etios is stepping in at the time when Nissan Motor Company intends to sell a $3,000 car in the Indian auto market in 2012. On the other hand, Tata Nano, the cheapest car of the world is available with the price tag of 1,31,331 rupees. The possibility is that the Etios might be more expensive than the same equipped models like the Hyundai i10 compact which is the second best selling model of India. 

Recently, Darius Lam, an analyst at J.D. Power and Associates, commented that auto major Maruti might face intense pressure from its new rivals like Nissan, Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen. In the year 2009, the yearly sales of both Maruti Alto and Hyundai i10 surpassed the Toyota models’ deliveries. Toyota targets to get ten percent of the market within 5-7 years after it sells the expected 70,000 units in the present year.

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