New Delhi, July 19 :
New Delhi, July 19:
With more and more takers for the Qualis way of life, Toyota is all set to ramp up capacity at its Bidadi plant-from the existing 25,000 cars a day to 50,000 cars by September-to accommodate the all new mid-size sedan it plans to start manufacturing early next year.
Thanks to the strong showing by the Qualis, a multi-utility vehicle, Toyota is also drawing up plans to set up a second plant exclusively for sedans by 2005, with a capacity of 100,000 units. Investment in the new plant is expected to be in the region of $ 400-$ 500 million.
Highly placed company officials said, 'The mid-size model to be manufactured in India will be based on the Corolla or the Corona, both of which are well established sedans in the international market. But it will not be an exact replica of the overseas models. We will have to alter the models and make it unique to the Indian market.'
The sedan will also boast a brand new name chosen specially for the Indian market. 'We chose the name Qualis a day before the car was launched; for this new model, the brainstorming session is still on,' said the officials. The Corolla is Toyota's best-selling model across the globe.
'The amount to be invested was decided at the time that Toyota entered India. It was a part of the MoU we signed with the Government of India. But we were not sure where we would invest the amount. As the Indian car market has matured, the demand for multi-utility vehicles has soared. To meet this demand, the Bidadi plant will be used to only manufacture MPVs and MUVs. We will set up a separate sedan-making unit by 2005. The plant will have a capacity of 100,000 cars a year.