Toyota begins Etios exports, first shipment sets sail for South Africa

April 4: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has begun exports of its made-in-India Etios saloon and Etios Liva hatchback to South Africa. The first consignment of 247 petrol-engined cars left the Ennore port today on a six-day journey. The export model will be built on the same platform as the India-market Etios and Etios Liva but customised to suit local requirements.

Present at the export ceremony were Vikram Kirloskar, vice-chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Vicente Socco, EVP, Toyota Motor Asia Pacific (TMAP), Takashi Sakai, EVP, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) and other governmental officials and dignitaries from Toyota.

Commenting on the shipment to South Africa, TSAM’s Vicente Socco commented: “The start of the export operations at TKM denotes its growing role in Toyota’s global operations.”

The Japanese manufacturer has set itself a target of exporting 20,000 cars to South Africa in this fiscal year. “At present, the targets can easily be met,” said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director (marketing), TKM. The cars will be sold via the 198 dealers in South Africa, priced at around 116,000 Rand (Rs 7.56 lakh), including a service plan, for the entry level model. The Liva, christened the Etios Hatchback there, will be sold in the Sub-B segment and will compete with the Ford Figo. The Etios saloon will be placed in the B segment.

At present, Toyota has no plans of exporting the diesel models of both the Etios and the Liva to South Africa. In terms of modifications, there have been very few changes. Calvyn Hamman, senior vice-president, sales and marketing, TSAM, said that since the road conditions in South Africa are very good, the cars have been modified suitably for high-speed driving. “In South Africa, we regularly drive at speeds of around 120-160kph on the highways, so there have been some changes to the suspension to that effect,” he said

Toyota has an 18.5 percent market share in South Africa and aims to take that “to the right side of 20 percent” by the end of this fiscal.

KARTHIK H