Toyota on Friday said it would scale down its production by up to 70 per cent in India between April 25 and June 4 this year due to supply constraints of components following the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Toyota, which has a joint venture with the Kirloskar group in India, said production at its Bangalore plants would be suspended on Mondays and Fridays between April 25 and June 4, 2011. “Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd (TKM) will operate at about 30 per cent of its normal capacity during this period…There will be no impact on its service and spare parts supply operations,” a company statement said.
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“It is important to note that this is a necessary response to a short term supply issue and we intend to restore the normal operations as soon as possible. Our focus is on ensuring optimum stock management to reduce the impact on our customers from the immediate production shortfalls,” said TKM Managing Director Hiroshi Nakagawa. On account of this measure there will be a production loss of about 7,000 units a month for TKM, while its normal monthly capacity is around 11,000 units. Notably, due to the natural disaster in Japan, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has also postponed the launch of Liva, the hatchback version of the newly-launched sedan Etios.
TKM currently manufactures models like sedan Etios, multi-utility vehicle Innova, premium sedan Corolla Altis and sports utility vehicle Fortuner in India. At present, the waiting period for Etios and Innova is around two to three months each, while that for Fortuner and Corolla Altis three months and one month respectively.