NEW DELHI: Aiming to make a bigger mark in the Indian market, Japanese car maker Toyota Motor will introduce a new variant of its sedan Corolla by the end of this year, besides planning to bring in a number of other models.
"In the world market, we are a leader, but in India we have challenges. We take India as a challenging market," Toyota Kirloskar Motor Managing Director Hiroshi Nakagawa said here.
The world's largest car company by sales, enjoys only 3 cent in the Indian passenger market.
"It is not so strong," he added.
"We are going to expand our business in India and it is a big task. We will be introducing new models and new cars here. The new Corolla model will be launched this year, we are just a few months away from it," Nakagawa said.
Without giving details, he said the new launches would be a mix of imported and domestically manufactured or assembled cars.
Earlier the company had announced plans to invest Rs 1,400 crore on setting up a second manufacturing unit at its existing facility in Bangalore to launch a 'strategic small' car in India by 2010.
"Currently we are developing the small car. We are in the final stages of selecting equipment suppliers," Nakagawa said adding the car would have high localisation of components.
When asked if the company would raise prices of its products due to inflationary pressures, Nakagawa said: "Input costs have gone up and it has been faced by all manufacturers. We try to bring down it internally, but there is a limit of cost cutting measures. Once we cross it, we will have no other option but to share it with consumers."
The company on Friday launched a nationwide traffic safety education programme for school children. It has allocated a fund of Rs 6.4 crore to reach one lakh kids for this purpose.
