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Daihatsu not to drive into India

Daihatsu Motor Company Limited, or DMCL, has decided against following its parent company -- Toyota Motor Corporation into India, a senior company executive said.

Daihatsu would, instead, help Toyota by offering its range of vehicles for selection of an India-specific model, DMCL executive vice-president Yoshiteru Yamanaka said.

"We are not planning to set up a separate venture of ours in India. We will be assisting Toyota is whichever way we can. There is no question of a separate venture in India," he said.

Toyota was earlier contemplating launching the Daihatsu Mira in India through its joint venture company -- Toyota Kirloskar Motors Private Limited.

However, the company has now decided against the model, but is still keen on launching a small car in the country.

The small car is likely to be Toyota's next offering for the Indian roads after the multipurpose vehicle 'Qualis' based on Kijang, which was launched in January this year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors marks Toyota's second innings in the Indian market. The Japanese car major had earlier floated a joint venture with the DCM Group a few years ago to manufacture the Dyna range of light commercial vehicles for the Indian market.

DCM held a majority stake of 74 per cent in the venture with Toyota controlling the rest 26 per cent. However, the venture failed and both partners decided to call off the project.

However, Daewoo Motor Company of South Korea stepped in and offered to buy the stake and form a joint venture with DCM for manufacturing Cielo cars along with a limited number of light commercial vehicles.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors was floated as a 74-26 joint venture with the Bangalore-based Kirloskar group. However, Toyota had later hiked its stake in the venture to 87 per cent.

Toyota has the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, or FIPB, approval to set up a $ 170 million joint venture to manufacture a ten-seater multi-utility vehicle for India.

The 'Qualis' was launched with a base model price tag of over Rs 450,000.

Launching the vehicle, company officials had announced that the existing model line-up from Toyota stables was being considered for a small car and a feasibility study has been initiated to finalise the model.

The models include Yaris and a hoard of other small cars from the stables of Toyota and other group subsidiaries.

However, a timeframe for the launch of the vehicle is yet to be formalised. "We have an intention to foray into the small car segment as well as other passenger car models, but plans have not finalised as yet," Toyota Kirloskar Motors managing director Sachio Yamazaki said.

The Qualis is available in three versions -- FS, GS and GS-T. The FS version would be available in three categories with the base non-air conditioner model priced at Rs 458,900.

The air-conditioner version would carry a price tag of Rs 499,900, while the unit featuring power steering and an audio system as additional features would be priced at Rs 531,900.

The Qualis GS will come at Rs 576,900 (with air-conditioner and power steering) and Rs 660,900 (with air-conditioner, power steering, power windows and audio system).

The top end version of Qualis GS-T will sport a price tag of Rs 739,900.

UNI

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