New Delhi: The world’s second largest car maker, Toyota Motor Corporation, has a lot riding on successful expansion of Indian operations.

Enhanced sales in India and China could be crucial to Toyota beating General Motors to become the world’s largest automobile company, eventually.

From India, Toyota is committed to developing a new small car for BRIC countries and has already set itself the target of grabbing 10% (or 2 lakh units) market share here by the turn of the decade.

Given India’s importance in Toyota’s global operations, it was no wonder that the Japanese major’s top brass spent the entire day on Monday meeting top Indian leaders.

Led by President Katsuaki Watanabe, the visiting team comprised senior managing director A Okabe and Toyota Kirloskar Motor (Indian JV) chairman R Sasaki. Its first stop was 7, Race Course Road for calling upon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The high profile visit comes on the occasion of Toyota having completed a decade in India and is the first by Watanabe after he assumed the role of president.

Watanabe’s team also met finance minister P Chidambaram as well as commerce minister Kamal Nath during the day.

While Toyota officials remained tightlipped about the series of meetings Watanabe and his team held with the who’s who in the government, sources tell us the Toyota may have apprised leaders about its plans for expanding Indian operations.

The company has to take a decision on location and investment for its second manufacturing plant (from where the small car would roll out in two years). The existing facility is in Bangalore.

Then, Toyota has been lobbying through the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) for lowering of import duties on alternate fuel vehicles.

The ‘Prius’ is the highest selling hybrid vehicle across the globe and Toyota wants to bring Prius to India but the 110% duty incidence on CBU imports is being seen as a hindrance.

Watanabe’s three day visit comes just when Toyota has announced a change in guard in India by appointing Hiroshi Nakagawa as the new managing director for joint venture operation Toyota
Kirloskar Motors. Nakagawa succeeds Atsushi Toyoshima, who will now be heading Toyota’s European operations.

 

Source : Dna