Will Toyota Kirloskar Motor's best-selling multi utility vehicle, Qualis, be phased out of India in the near future?
Although the company's spokesperson admitted that discussion on this subject was on within the company, no decision has yet been arrived at.
Sources within Toyota said that among other reasons, the need to meet the Bharat Stage-III standard for emission from April 1, 2005 could be one of the reasons for phasing out the Qualis.
A company source said, "Obviously we are capable of upgrading the Qualis to meet the BS-III standard. The question is do we need to?"
This source also said the other strong reason for phasing out the Qualis could be to create room for a new model from Toyota that would offer bigger volumes than its current line up such as the Qualis, Corolla or the Camry.
"We have neither decided on the model nor the price band or segment where this large-volume model will be introduced," said the source.
The Qualis, the current market leader in its segment, sold around 3,500 units in December 2004. The volume from this model in November 2004 was 2,837 units, while M&M Scorpio sold 2,037 units, Tata Sumo 2442 and GM's Tavera sold 1,460 units in the same month.
Toyota entered India with the Qualis in 2000 and managed to capture a 35 per cent market share in its very first year.
"At that time, the only serious competition was the Tata Sumo. This was followed by the launch of the premium segment model Camry in 2002, which again is a success considering this fully built imported model gives the company around 80 units a month," said an auto analyst.
The Camry is currently priced at Rs 19 lakh a piece.
In 2003, Toyota launched the Corolla as a C+ model in the price band of Rs 10-13 lakh a unit, which currently clocks around 800-900 units a month.
The company is keen on now playing the volume game and the exit of the Qualis from the market could well be the first step in this direction.
The company's senior officials have in the recent past said that Japanese car maker's Indian subsidiary aims to have a 10 per cent market share, in a market where volumes could be two million. Toyota's present market share is a little less than 5 per cent.
The company is currently expanding its facility in Bidadi near Bangalore to produce 60,000 units per annum against the current 45,000 units at a cost of Rs 130 crore (Rs 1.30 billion).
