Latest Car News in India

Toyota targets emerging markets, to launch eight compact cars

Come 2015 and you will see eight new compact cars by Toyota all eyeing the emerging markets and India is the most prominent of them. The strategy to launch new cars in India and the other emerging markets round the globe is the Japanese car makers wish to leave behind the German Volkswagen in terms of sales. Toyota Etios Liva and Liva sedan launch in India were part of this comeback game. It was a no less than a painful situation for the car maker when it lost the top automaker title last year.

Now that it has learnt that dependence on its homeland market and other developed markets will do no good to the car maker, Toyota is fast targeting the emerging markets by launching new Toyota cars there. In the developing markets including India, Brazil and China, the car maker will be facing much resentment by Hyundai, Maruti and Volkswagen besides General Motors. For India, Toyota has realized that it is the small car that will give it a lead as the market is prominently governed by hatchbacks and all the more specially when India still lacks a feasible small car perhaps in diesel when petrol prices are heading to their mighty figure of Rs 100 per litre.

Aiming the emerging markets is an ongoing strategy by the car makers since 2000 when it sold just 18.6 percent of its in these markets. Now by 2015 the company aims to sell half of its total cars in these markets. It plans to sell around 1 lakh cars in over hundred countries where it sells its cars. In addition to this, it will also be increasing the localization so that the car prices can be brought to a more feasible level. However, Toyota has no plans to launch a car that is priced under $6300. Whereas other car makers such as Nissan and Hyundai are said to be in the process of bringing in a low cost car in India and other emerging markets.