The Hindu Business Line : Toyota may launch Daihatsu for Indian roads

THE much-awaited small car from Toyota for the Indian market could be under the Daihatsu marquee. Industry sources said that Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), the Indian subsidiary of the Japanese automobile major may consider launching the Daihatsu brand in India as part of its strategy to enter the mass-market passenger car category.

Daihatsu has quite a few compact cars that Toyota could consider for a possible India foray. Of these, sources pointed out that Toyota is likely to look at four compact car options that are currently being sold under the Daihatsu brand in a few Asian countries. These include the Daihatsu Cuore, the Xenia, the Sirion and the YRV.

In addition to these cars, Toyota Motor Corporation and Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd are also jointly developing a new small car code-named the U-IMV, as part of the former's IMV project. The jointly developed new small car will first be produced and sold in the Indonesian market later this year.

This will be the third time that the two companies have worked together to launch a compact vehicle. The previous two occasions were when the Daihatsu Cuore was co-developed in the year 2000 for launch in Pakistan and when the Terios, a compact SUV was jointly developed in 2001 for launch in the Venezuelan market.

The interesting point to note here is that Toyota has also mentioned that the U-IMV project small car will go international after testing the waters in Indonesia. Industry sources add that the car could well be the best fit for the Indian market too, since Toyota's mission with this new car to make it affordable for first time, entry-level car buyers.

Mr A. Toyashima, Managing Director of TKM told Business Line that Toyota may look at bringing in vehicles under the Daihatsu brand. He felt that the two brands can co-exist and that a similar situation already exists in neighbouring Pakistan, where the Daihatsu Cuore (also known as the Charade in other markets) and the Toyota Corolla are extremely popular vehicles.

Mr Toyashima however, refused to elaborate on the products that may be considered for the Indian market. He felt that there are a number of small cars that both Daihatsu and Toyota can potentially consider for the Indian market.

Daihatsu has always been famous for its expertise in developing mini-vehicles. Toyota owns four important brands globally. Each of the brands - Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino - enable Toyota to uniquely position vehicles under the respective brand.

The brands have, in turn, helped Toyota to classify the vehicles and effectively market them to specific customer types under each brand. So, while the Lexus brand exemplifies luxury, the Daihatsu brand epitomises compact, fuel-efficient vehicles. Toyota also manufactures high-end compact cars like the Yaris, the Avanza and the VIOS.