Toyota Kirloskar Motor sells 707 units in production-hit May

Toyota Kirloskar Motor has announced sale of just 707 units in May 2021, a month which has seen plenty of restrictions and sporadic lockdowns in several parts of the country.

Even before the state-wide lockdown was declared in Karnataka, TKM had already announced its annual maintenance shutdown at its plant in Bidadi, starting on April 26 through to May 14 to enhance its operational efficiencies. This further added to the number of non-production days at its plant in Bidadi.

Commenting on the situation, Naveen Soni, Senior Vice-President, TKM said, “Last month witnessed no production at our plants in Bidadi as well as minimal sales owing to the much-needed restrictions and sporadic lockdowns in different parts of the country.” 

He added, “Having said that, the overall market situation as well as consumer sentiments are better than in May 2020. In fact, we have even registered a 104% growth in cumulative wholesales clocked from January to May in 2021, when compared to the same period last year. We also anticipate that factors like pent-up demand and the demand for personal mobility will continue to be quite significant once the markets open as consumers will want to own their vehicles instead of using shared or public mobility options. A testimony to this is the fact that we have a very healthy number of pending orders and there has been no significant order cancellation against the orders. However, we will be able to take a better stock of the situation once the restrictions are relaxed.”

“On the manufacturing side, we are trying to ensure that all possible measures and preparations are made to resume production as soon as the lockdown is withdrawn, so as to be able to cater to the immediate mobility needs of our customers at the earliest. Moreover, we are also focusing on vaccinating our employees as well as our dealer staff so as to ensure lower risk and severity of infections, once the markets open. We want our workforces to be safe and hence we are channelizing our synergies to drive vaccination camps for our employees at the plant as well as for our dealer staff at various dealership locations across the country.”