Deepika Agrawal 
Japanese automaker Toyota Motor will invest nearly USD 400 million to set up its third manufacturing facility in India in order to meet surging demand. The new plant will be set up in the southern state of Karnataka (in Bidadi, near Bengaluru), where the carmaker already has two plants. The new production facility is expected to create 2,000 new jobs and produce over 100,000 units annually, taking Toyota’s overall production capacity to 410,000 units per annum. The new unit will commence production by 2026 and function in two shifts.
The facility marks the carmaker’s first capacity expansion in over a decade and coincides with the completion of its 25 years of operations in India. The expansion comes at a time when Toyota has been facing slow growth in markets such as Europe and North America and dealing with tough competition from Chinese rivals in the Southeast Asian markets. However, in the Indian market, the automaker has seen a jump in sales after its global partnership with Suzuki Motor.
Toyota-Suzuki partnership
Toyota Motor Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation had forged a business partnership in 2017, under which the two Japanese carmakers pick products initially developed by the other, then tweak and sell under their brands to fill out their product line-up. as As a part of the partnership, about two-thirds of Toyota’s current production capacity in India is being used by Maruti Suzuki to build vehicles for both the car makers.
Toyota’s journey in India
In its 25 years in the country, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has sold over 2.3 million units of vehicles. The company started its journey in India with the Qualis and currently offers models such as Rumion, Vellfire, Hilux, Camry Hybrid, Glanza, Innova HyCross, Urban Cruiser Hyryder, Fortuner, Legender and Innova Crysta.
