Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) announced the inauguration of TKAP gasoline engine  and transmission plant for ETIOS at its Bidadi facility.

Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP) is a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan (TMC), Toyota Industries Corporation, Japan (TICO) and Kirloskar Systems Limited, Bangalore.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chairman, TKM, Vikram Kirloskar, said: “Indian operations play a key role in Toyota’s global strategy and this has been reinforced by the introduction of the Etios series exclusively for the Indian market. Now with the commencement of TKAP’s engine and transmission plant, the localization of  gasoline engine and transmission has marked another milestone in the growth of Toyota in India. The local production of the engine and transmissions for Etios raises the localization ratio to over 90%.”

The Managing Director of TKAP, Yuji Hiraoka, said, “We are very happy to announce the formal commencement of our new engine and transmission plant. This project has helped generate additional employment for more than 500 members at TKAP. It has also additionally created opportunities for indirect employment in our supplier fraternity. TKAP will contribute towards localization thereby getting an opportunity to serve our customers in India better”.

The new production at the plant represents an investment of approximately Rs 500 crores with the engine plant being operational since August 2012 and the transmission plant being operational since January 2013. The annual capacity for the engine plant is 1,08,000 units and for the transmission plant is 2,40,000 units.  TKAP also produces R –type manual transmissions for export to Thailand & Argentina and also for the “Fortuner”, manufactured in India. It also produces axles and propeller shafts for the “Innova”, manufactured in India. Production of engines and transmissions for the Etios will further localize parts production.