Toyota will be increasing production by at least 20-30% to meet increased demand for Innova, HyRyder / Grand Vitara, Glanza and Fortuner
In FY2023, Toyota sales were at 173,245 units whereas production was at 166,690 units. With bookings of more than 1.20 lakh units (end-March 2023), Toyota is looking to boost production at its existing facility in Bidadi, near Bengaluru.
Production will be increased by starting a third shift. During the current financial year, Toyota production is expected to reach more than 3.20 lakh units. This will be close to double of existing production and the highest ever for Toyota in India.
Strong demand for Innova, HyCross, Fortuner
Waiting period for Toyota cars is in the range of 3 to 18 months. Toyota’s hybrid SUVs have turned out to be a spectacular success. Innova HyCross is among the bestsellers and has the highest waiting period. Recently, Toyota had to temporarily halt bookings for Innova HyCross ZX, ZX (O) hybrid variants. Waiting period had touched 2.5 years in specific cases, which prompted the company to halt bookings.
Earlier in 2022, bookings for Innova Crysta also had to be stopped temporarily. It was restarted only in February 2023. As of March 2023, cumulative bookings for HyCross and Crysta is around 60k to 70k. With supply situation gradually improving and production set to increase, Innova customers can expect reduced waiting period.
With the third shift in place, Toyota is looking to boost production of Innova, Fortuner and HyCross to 510 units per day. As of now, production is 380 units per day. Annual production capacity by end of this financial year will be in the range of 3.20 lakh to 4 lakh units. Toyota was looking to increase production much earlier, but it could not be executed due to shortage of semiconductor chips.
It has also come to light that Toyota had planned to discontinue Innova Crysta. However, as production of HyCross was impacted due to shortage of chips, the company decided to continue production of Crysta till end of FY2024. Considering the strong demand for Crysta, Toyota may continue producing the MUV till at least end of FY2025.
Toyota also meeting Grand Vitara demand
Apart from its own cars and SUVs, Toyota is also manufacturing Maruti Suzuki’s Grand Vitara at its Bidadi factory. Grand Vitara has been registering strong growth and has emerged as the second bestselling compact SUV. It is ahead of Kia Seltos, while trailing Hyundai Creta. As of end-FY2023, bookings for Grand Vitara were around 1.40 lakh units. Waiting period for the SUV is around 3-6 months.
In FY2023, Toyota commanded market share of 4.45%. That’s a gain of 40 basis points. As part of its alliance with Suzuki, Toyota is expected to launch rebadged versions of Maruti Suzuki Fronx and Ertiga MPV in the near future. In return, Maruti will be launching a rebadged version of Innova HyCross. Maruti currently supplies Glanza (rebadged Baleno) to Toyota, which has registered sales of 40k units in FY2023.
