Car maker Toyota is upbeat about the prospects for its hybrid vehicles in India, especially as it believes the process of mass adoption of electric vehicles in the country is likely to go beyond the 2030 deadline.
“Clearly we do have plans to launch more hybrid vehicles, strong hybrid vehicles,” Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) vice chairman Shekar Viswanathan said during a media interaction at the launch of Yaris sedan here on Thursday.
The popularity of hybrid cars is only bound to grow, “at least in the next 5 to 10 years”, until India has enough charging infrastructure in place for electric cars to become prominent.
Globally, Toyota has some 34 hybrid models. “We have sold more than 11 million hybrid vehicles across the world. We have a choice of bringing in vehicles from this portfolio,” he said. Which product would finally make it to India, Mr. Viswanathan said, would depend on customer preferences and how the taxation structure evolves in the country.
At present, the only hybrid car TKM, the joint venture of Toyota and Kirloskar Group, sells in India is Camry, that it imports on a CKD basis.
Besides hybrid, it will be BS-VI compliant vehicles for which “a lot of us will be waiting,” he added.
These vehicles could come into play only when the government of India makes available fuel conforming to BS-VI tailpipe emission norms across the country after April 2020.
Mr. Viswanathan said the 2030 deadline set by the government towards an EV only scenario was unlikely to be met as Toyota believes that it would take 20 to 30 years for the charging infrastructure to be in place. In the interim, the focus should be on hybrids, he said.
Yaris sedan, of which Toyota sells over 300,000 units a year globally, comes loaded with over 11 first in segment features, including tyre pressure monitoring system, power driver seat and acoustic and vibration control glass, he said about the new product.
On the depreciating rupee, he said it indeed had resulted in some impact on “our cost structure, but [it is] early to comment on whether prices will go up.” The level of localisation of cars made by TKM, which has two manufacturing facilities near Bengaluru, ranges between 60% and 90%, he said.
