Toyota Kirloskar Motor has announced sale of 1,639 units in the domestic market in May 2020, which was a very truncated month given that the carmaker resumed production only on May 26. It also exported 928 units of the Etios. TKM had sold 12,138 units in the domestic market in May 2019.

TKM has been catering to the pending orders that the company had received, ever since the nationwide lockdown was announced. The month of May also witnessed gradual restart of Toyota dealerships in certain parts of the country. By mid-May, almost 60% of Toyota dealerships were operational. However, this did not comprise the key metropolitan markets. As the lockdown relaxed, TKM was able to cater to customers in other markets as well.  

Commenting on the sales last month, Naveen Soni, Senior Vice-President, Sales & Service, TKM said, “We are thankful to the government as well as to our supplier and dealer partners who have enabled us resume production last month. We are conscious of the dealer business conditions in various parts of the country and we have been prioritising production at our end as per dealer requirements, both in terms of quantity as well as the grades that they require. The market has been slow and with demand being less, we have been able to wholesale only 20% of what we would have clocked under a normal situation. However, retail sales (sale from dealer to customer) have been much higher when compared to wholesales (TKM sales to dealers), thereby helping us reduce the month closing inventory levels at dealerships. We have also seen a significant surge in customer orders and enquiries online, through digital platforms.

"We have now resumed operations in more than 300 Toyota outlets across the country, with ongoing sales operations in close to 220 outlets and service operations in more than 230 outlets. From sales and service point of view, business is ramping up and we are exceeding 50% of our normal capacity from the open outlets."