Toyota Kirloskar plans to roll out affordable green models

Encouraged by the success of the locally made Hyryder and Innova Hycross hybrid SUVs last year, the company is currently testing the flex fuel Corolla Altis that can run with 85% ethanol blend. It’s also testing hydrogen fuel cell and plug-in hybrid models.

“As we move towards green technologies the idea is to leave no one behind. It need not be a particular technology,” Vikram Gulati, country head and senior vice president, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, told ET.

ET Bureau

The local arm of the Japanese car maker along with Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP) has invested ₹4100 crore over the last one year to accelerate localisation of green technologies. This investment was to enable local production facilities to build electric powertrain parts and components, thereby catering to the electrified vehicle manufacturing in India.

The efforts have now started paying off, said Gulati. The TKAP facility which makes the electric drivetrain that powers the Hyryder, has 70% parts (volume wise) and 55% (value wise) procured locally. The plant has a capacity to make 135,000 e-drivetrains per annum of which a third is being utilised for domestic market and the rest is being exported to several countries including Japan, said Gulati adding that the efforts are underway to localise further and reach the levels TKM reached in Innova.

The TKAP plant making the e-drive is the first one outside Japan commissioned in the Asia Pacific region. The e-drive can go in a hybrid as well as a plug-in hybrid and is also being exported back to Japan. The facility is eligible to get incentives under the auto productivity linked incentive scheme, said Gulati.

TKM has sold over 11000 units of the Innova Hycross in the first three months of the current calendar year and over 22000 units of the Hyryder since its launch in September 2022. To meet a strong order book for its current models and reduce the waiting period, it would commence a third shift at its plant in Bidadi near Bengaluru from next month and ramp up capacity. Post this ramp up, for the first time ever the company’s plants will reach a peak utilisation of 310,000 per annum.

For the India subsidiary of the world’s largest carmaker, which had been on the fringes in India’s competitive passenger vehicle market with less than 5% market share and struggled with its high-cost structure and low volumes for years, this marks a significant shift. Its sales in India advanced 4% to 174015 units in 2022. Launch of competitively priced models as part of its alliance with Suzuki and affordable hybrids have helped the company to turn around its fortunes.