Toyota Kirloskar Motor has announced sales of 1,973 units in the domestic market, down 85 percent year on year (June 2016: 13,567). The company also exported 1,655 units of the Etios series in the month.

The company's sales numbers have been impacted as a result of potential buyers delaying purchase decisions, and preferring to wait for GST to kick in on July 1. As is known, SUVs are the biggest gainers in the GST regime with taxation dropping by 12 percent from 55 percent to 43 percent.  

Commenting on the monthly sales, N Raja, director and senior vice-president, Sales & Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “The uncertainty surrounding the GST implementation with regard to the passenger vehicles has impacted the retails as customers are postponing their plan of purchasing the vehicle post GST rollout. Thus, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has taken a conscious decision to lower the volumes of vehicles sold to dealers this month. We believe that our dealers are our first customers who cater to the requirements of our end customers. This strategy has been undertaken to ensure that there is minimum burden on our dealer partners and they can focus on clearing the existing stocks at the dealerships. Our dealers are our allies and play a vital role in our sustained business. Thus, closely monitoring customer sentiments, we have taken this step to lessen any impact of the differential tax post GST roll out effective July 1, 2017.”

“We are optimistic that the GST implementation will be fruitful for the growth of the Indian auto industry.  With the change in prices, we hope to see positive sentiments amongst the consumers in the month of July. We think the industry will break into double-digit territory this year.”