Toyota seeks concessions to bring in mass hybrids

Japanese automaker Toyota Corp is evaluating a possibility of introducing mass market hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs) in India.

The company, which is a pioneer in hybrids and EVs, is already selling its premium hybrid vehicles Toyota Prius and Camry in India. The company, on Friday, said it would be possible for the company to bring mass segment hybrids to India only if the government offers certain concessions.

“We are ready with the technology and actively thinking how to introduce hybrids and EVs in the B segment in India. We have always asked the government to incentivise hybrids as the cost of such vehicles is very high,” Akita Tachibana, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd said.

Talking to DH after launching the latest sedan Toyota Yaris, he said the company needs to localise several components for making hybrids in India and that would be possible only if the government offers incentives, he said without detailing on the exact incentives required from the government.

“The cost of hybrids will be at least 30% higher than the conventional cars and it has to be shared equally by the manufacturer, government and the customer”, he said.

Tachibana said Toyota is ready to bring to India some of its hybrid vehicles in the mass market segment and assemble them at its factory in Bidadi. “We have enough capacity available at our factory in Bidadi, where we can assemble hybrid cars for the Indian market,” Tachibana said.

Globally, Toyota has sold 11 million hybrids. Hybrid cars will help bring down the emission levels drastically and also provide up to 50% higher mileage, he added.

However, the company has no fixed timeline on when it will introduce EVs in India.

Toyota as part of its “Environmental Challenge 2050”, has set a goal of selling 1.5 million hybrids annually by 2020. In 2017, it sold 1.52 million hybrids.

Toyota Kirloskar on Friday launched its new sedan – Yaris in India which comes with a class leading features. The car is priced between Rs 8.75 lakh and Rs 14.07 lakh (ex-showroom) across the country.

The delivery of Yaris commenced on Friday for those who booked earlier.

So far, the company has received more than 60,000 customer enquiries and by end of May around 4,000 units will be delivered, Tachibana added.