Japanese car major Toyota Motor Corporation plans to set up an engine assembly plant in the country and has sought government approval for the proposed venture.
"We have applied to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board seeking approval for an engine assembly plant," A Toyoshima, managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of limited edition version of its multi-purpose-vehicle Qualis, in New Delhi, on Friday.
The eight-seater 2446cc vehicle will cost Rs 659,000 (ex-showroom Delhi).
Asked about the quantum of investment the venture would entail, Toyoshima only said that such facilities did not require a lot of money and added that volumes need not be high.
Toyota which owns 99 per cent stake in TKML now has three models -- Qualis, the premium sedan Corolla and luxury car Camry.
It has a plant at Bidadi (near Bangalore) with a production capacity of 50,000 units annually.
The company hopes to sell 34,000 units by year end and the sales have already crossed 20,000 units till August end.
He said a feasibility study was on for launching a small car in the domestic market but declined to give a time frame, saying Toyota has about 100 models worldwide and it needed more time to plan a specific model for the Indian market.
TKML plans to sell an additional 100,000 vehicles in the next two years.
Besides TKML, Toyota is also setting up a 100 per cent export oriented transmission facility to supply to its subsidiaries in Asia, Africa and South America.
Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts is slated to go on stream by May-June 2004, Vikram Kirloskar, vice chairman, TKML, said.
The unit is being established at a cost of around Rs 480 crore (Rs 4.80 billion) near the company's existing facility outside Bangalore.
The Kirloskar group, which holds one per cent stake in the car venture, would decide next year on whether to hike its stake in the joint venture, he said.
As per the existing agreement between the two companies, the Kirloskar group has the option to increase its stake to 11 per cent.
"We have five joint ventures with Toyota group and we wish to continue being partners as far as I can think of," he said.
