Last year there were enough natural calamities in the east to affect Japanese automakers badly. All the Japanese majors were so affected that not only the production of car models was down in the home country but the supply of crucial components to global markets also came to a halt.
Among all the majors from Japan, Toyota was the one who suffered the most. We are not saying this because there was a production halt but more importantly because of the fact that it lost the number one global seller spot to General Motors. While many must have thought it would take Toyota long to regain the numero uno (number one) spot, interestingly the company has done it that too before time.
Yes, Toyota has outsold General Motors and Volkswagen for the first half of 2012. The Japanese sold 4.9 million units in the first half surpassing both GM and Volkswagen by 300,000 and 520,000 units respectively. Toyota along with its global subsidiaries Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino achieved this massive figure of 4.9 million. The sales of Volkswagen and General Motors have shown a significant drop owing to the slowdown in the European region of the planet.
Although globally Toyota is doing great, in India the sales are yet to become better. Despite having inexpensive entry level cars such as Etios sedan and Etios Liva hatchback in its portfolio, the company’s sales performance is not picking up pace. No doubt Innova and Fortuner are one of the best selling models in their respective segments but it would be childish to expect volumes from the two.
Now Toyota Kirloskar is planning to increase the localization of Etios twins. As of today, the components of Etios are 70 % localized but the company wants to take the percentage to 90 by March 2013. In fact the manufacturer could take the localization of Etios twins to 100 % in order to lower the cost and enjoy better profits. The localization content for Innova MPV and Fortuner SUV is 50 % presently and the manufacturer believes it needs a revision in the coming years.
We are quite sure if Toyota increases the localization of its model line-up, more sales will come in. However as far as the global picture is concerned, Toyota gladly has registered such massive sales but there are still 6 months to go and GM and Volkswagen are working sincerely. Stay tuned for more updates from Car Blog India.
