Toyota to up local content in Vitara Brezza, Baleno

Japanese auto major Toyota plans to increase local content of the Baleno and Vitara Brezza models, which it will receive from compatriot Suzuki for selling in India under their partnership to make them price-competitive, a senior company executive has said.

The likely changes to be brought in the two models “are still under work-in-progress and how the final products gets rolled out will be known over the course of time”, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Vice President Atsushi Oki said.

“Toyota will further boost their outlook on components localisation in support to ‘Make in India’ initiative, to achieve cost effectiveness,” he said, when asked how costly the two models under the Toyota badge would be when compared to what Maruti Suzuki is already selling in India.

When asked by when TKM will start selling Vitara Brezza and Baleno in India, he said the details of each model such as the schedule of the start of supply will be considered at a later stage.

In March this year, in continuation of their partnership discussions that kicked off in 2017, Suzuki agreed to supply premium hatchback Baleno and compact SUV Vitara Brezza to Toyota, while Toyota will supply Corolla to Suzuki.

The two companies agreed last week to expand the scope of their collaboration and discuss new joint projects in the fields of technological development, vehicle production, and market development.

Under the agreement, TKM would manufacture models developed by Suzuki for sale in India through their respective brand networks.