Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), a joint venture between Japan's Toyota and India's Kirloskar Group, on Thursday said it would make foray into exports by despatching the first shipment of its newly-launched sedan Etios and its hatchback version Etios Liva to South Africa in March next year.
The export model of Etios will be built on the same platform as Etios and Etios Liva, manufactured and sold in India. However, there would be a few changes in technical specifications/features, pertaining to the different needs of each market. The export model will be customised to suit the local requirements. The company will export only the petrol variants of the Etios, TKM said in a statement. The Etios is currently manufactured in TKM's second plant located at Bidadi near Bangalore. The current production capacity in the second plant is 80,000 units which will be ramped up to 1.2-lakh units by 2012 and to 2.1-lakh units by 2013. The engine and transmission for the Etios, which are now being imported from Japan, will also be manufactured in India. Starting next year, 1-lakh engines will be produced annually that will go up to 2.4-lakh units by 2013.
