Toyota Motor in India Discontinues Sales of the Etios and Corolla, Launches Second OEM-supplied Model

Toyota has changed its product strategy in the Indian market after the tightening of emission regulations in April 2020. Until now, Toyota has been working to expand sales in the Indian market by focusing on two utility vehicles of the IMV series (Innova, Fortuner) and passenger cars such as the Etios series, a strategic model series intended for emerging markets. Despite these efforts, sales have been sluggish. As part of its new product strategy, Toyota discontinued sales of the Etios series and the Corolla Altis. In the future, while continuing to sell the IMV series, Toyota will maximize cooperation with Suzuki in small vehicle sector in an effort to revitalize its presence in the Indian market.

Toyota announced a cooperation agreement with Suzuki in November 2017. Since then, the content of the agreement has been gradually introduced such as mutual OEM supply, joint development of new models, and promotion of electric vehicles in India. In June 2019, the Glanza small hatchback was launched. The Glanza, based on the Baleno, is Maruti Suzuki’s first OEM supplied model to Toyota. In August 2020, the Urban Cruiser small SUV was introduced. Sales and delivery is scheduled to begin by the fall of 2020. The Urban Cruiser, based on the Vitara Brezza, is Maruti Suzuki’s second OEM supplied model to Toyota. Through this new strategy, Toyota aims to increase market share in India which was 3.7% in the first six months in 2020.

The cooperation with Suzuki is not limited to OEM supply, it is also intended to increase the operating rate of Toyota’s Indian plant. In 2019, Toyota manufactured 116,000 units in India with an operating rate of 38% against its annual production capacity of 310,000 units. In order to improve operating rate, the Urban Cruiser is scheduled to go into production at Toyota’s plant in 2022. In addition, a new C-segment MPV, jointly developed with Suzuki, is planned to be supplied to Suzuki from Toyota’s Indian plant.