While most auto majors have gone the discounting way to tide the demonetization issue, Toyota has gone the other way and hiked prices of its locally made products. From the 1-Jan-17, all Toyota models will witness a price hike of up to 3%.
Raja, company director & senior vice president (marketing and sales) said:
There has been an increase in pricing of raw material commodities like steel, aluminium, copper and rubber over a period of the last six months and this puts a lot of pressure on us as all this has been leading to a higher input cost on our end. Another factor leading to higher input cost in our case is the appreciation of yen in the international market which has increased the cost of parts that we import from Japan.
We do a periodic review of the prices of our products basis the above factors and take necessary actions. We have been absorbing all the additional costs till now thereby protecting our customers from the price increase. However, owing to continued pressure of high costs and foreign exchange rates remaining at high levels of above Rs. 68 USD, we have been pressured to increase the cost of our products.
In the midst of demonetization pressures, Toyota’s premium SUV Fortuner after 8 years since launch crossed the one lakh cumulative sales mark in the domestic market. With the new Fortuner, Toyota is looking at 5,000 pending orders with over 2,000 delivered already.
TKM bagged “The Champions Competition 2016” award conducted by the CII in recognition of the improvement in equipment effectiveness at production line, markedly increasing plant output, ensuring equipment functions without breakdowns, malfunction or defects.
TKM is also building what it calls India’s safest small car – the most fuel-efficient and value-for-money to take on Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors. This comes as Toyota Kirloskar has failed to make a mark in the small car space and now is hoping that the integration work between Daihatsu and Toyota pays off.
Mr. Akito Tachibana, MD of Toyota Kirloskar said:
The most favourable story for us is that cars developed by Daihatsu will be made for the local market and at an affordable price. We will begin research to assess customer expectations in each market to define the concept of a vehicle before any development. The car should be the safest and it should have a pure hybrid solution. Volume is not our priority. We look at how to make a better car in the market.
Toyota Kirloskar India reported sales of 14,093 units in December, 2016 against 10,883 units during the same time last year resulting in a growth of 29.5%
- Domestic Sales stood at 12,747 units against 10,442 units
- Exports stood at 1,346 units to against 441 units
N Raja, Director & Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said:
December is usually a high selling month as most manufacturers try and liquidate the year end stocks and come up with schemes offering huge discounts on products. In our case, we ensure a lean inventory at all times both on our side as well as the dealer and we have been able to maintain the same in the year end as well.
This indicates the strong demand in the market for our products and especially the demand for the new Crysta and Fortuner which are new launches. Both these products have received an overwhelming response and we are very grateful to our customers for that.
Having said that, the number of walk-ins at the dealership and enquiries have been impacted due to demonetisation in the past two months. Although we saw a slight surge in footfalls and customer enquiries in December, the effects of demonetisation will reflect until the first quarter of this year. We hope that the New Year will bring in positive sentiments in the market.
Note: Sales numbers presented here are manufacturer reported sales numbers i.e. factory dispatches to dealerships. They are NOT retail sales figures to end customers.
Love it or hate it, do leave us with your reviews in the comment section below!
