New Delhi, Sept. 1: Ford plans to launch its family sedan made for the Indian market later this year even as rival Toyota is gearing up for a small-car splash.

Code-named B376, the Ford model will appear in petrol and diesel versions at prices between Rs 7 and Rs 8 lakh. The diesel variant could make inroads into the taxi mart.

Ford officials said the car, which could be exported to several developing nations, is being tested on Indian roads.

Toyota’s small car could sport its own brand-name or could carry the marque of Daihatsu, the firm’s well-known subsidiary.

The Japanese firm will invest $100 million in a second plant here. Having button-holed itself in the top-end with models like Camry and Innova, Toyota is waking up to the potential of India, which, with only seven cars per 1,000 people, is a potential small-car haven.

The company has started studies to assess whether launching a small car would be viable in the country and the models likely to succeed.

Hero Honda plant

Buoyed by increasing motorcycles sales, Hero Honda Motors said it would announce its third plant soon.

“We are almost there. It’s a matter of a few weeks. It will be done before Diwali,” managing director Pawan Munjal said on the sidelines of the SIAM convention. The plant will go on stream before Diwali next year, though Munjal declined to disclose further details on the issue.

“Considering the way we are growing and the number of opportunities in the market, the third plant will go up to the scale of the existing ones at Gurgaon and Dharuhera in Haryana in the long term,” Munjal said, adding the location and investments will be finalised.

The company, a joint venture between the Hero group of the Munjals and Japan’s Honda Motors, will also enter the scooter segment this fiscal itself, Munjal said.

Munjal said the company was still looking for a replacement to Atul Sobti, who resigned as executive director (business operations) recently after a seven-year stint.