Toyota removes ban on India investment, to launch new cars

Toyota, the Japanese carmaker, has decided to remove the freeze that it had put on investing in India and will be launching more cars in the world's fifth biggest car market. The Aichi-headquartered company had decided to revise its decision after Supreme Court lifted the eight-month ban on the sale of diesel vehicles above 2000 cc in Delhi-NCR.

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Hiroyuki Fukui, CEO - Asia, Middle East & North Africa region, said that now the company will be putting more focus on the Indian marker, launching vehicles made to suit the Indian requirements.

"We would like to be a good citizen wherever we open and India is one of the promising markets in Asia. Our production is only half used. We have huge potential. In India we have the emissions, the regulations. We understand it is important for the health of the people. We are trying to find an amicable solution for sustainable growth. That is why I say we will grow step by step," he told ET.

Toyota has two facilities in Karnataka that annually produce 310,000 units, almost 55% of the available production capacity.

"For India, we need local production. We have lots of capacity but unfortunately because of so many things we have small production right now. We will go step by step to be accepted by Indian consumers," Fukui added.

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