Toyota Motor Corporation is drawing up plans to enter the commercial vehicle segment in India. The Japanese auto major is scouting for land in the country to set up a manufacturing facility for its commercial vehicles division.

Toyota manufactures trucks and buses under the Hino brand and light commercial vehicles under the Toyota brand. Headquartered in Tokyo, Hino’s principal products comprise diesel trucks, buses and diesel engines.

In 2003 Toyota Motor Corporation acquired majority ownership of Hino Motors, committing to a vision of global leadership in the heavy- and medium-duty truck market achieved with regional manufacturing of superior- performing trucks.

In India, the company will cater to the premium segment and introduce 6x2 trucks and 6x4 tippers immediately as Completely Built Units.

India is already turning an attractive market for both trucks and buses. Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland already are dominant players in the truck market. Volvo and Mercedes too have already set up base here and revealed major plans to compete in the bus and truck market.

At present Toyota already has a passenger car division running in India as a joint venture between the Kirloskar Group and Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Kirloskar Motor. The company has a car manufacturing site at Bidadi, near Bangalore. with a production capacity of 60,000 units per annum. An upcoming facility near the same site will be operational by 2010. When it goes on stream, it will increase the collective capacity for TKM’s passenger car to 1,30,000 units per annum.