Toyota plans India model with hybrid DNA
Toyota Motor Corp, the world’s largest automobile manufacturer, plans to build an Indiaspecific model with a strong focus on hybrid technology, a top official at the Japanese company’s local unit said.
The impetus behind Toyota’s plan for a new car is India’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE norms, which seeks to ensure that the mileage of cars on Indian roads improves by 10% between 2017 and 2021 and 30% from 2022, while carbon dioxide emissions from cars are targeted to be brought down to 108grams/ per litre starting 2022. The mileage improvement will be decided on the basis of litres of fuel consumed by a vehicle to run 100km.
The move is targeted at reducing the carbon footprint of the automobile industry. It is the first time such norms have been intro2023) duced in India.
Toyota, which has a dieselheavy portfolio of big vehicles, may find it difficult to meet CAFE II norms which come into effect in 2021 without hybrid technology, admitted N Raja, director and senior vice-president (sales & marketing), Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd. “Even petrol cars” won’t help, he added.
“When Cafe III comes (after — 90 grams per litre of carbon dioxide emission — real hybrids will have to come, not the mild ones,” Raja said, adding that the company’s engineers from Japan have begun studying the Indian market and will take at least five years to build an Indiaspecific model with true hybrid technology.
Hybrids offer better fuel economy and lower running costs.
Toyota has pioneered hybrid technology since 1997, especially with several generations of the Prius. Toyota’s range of six hybrid cars encompass small hybrids , family-sized cars like the Toyota Prius.
The car maker seems to have learned from the failure of some its smaller cars in India.
“One thing is clear that after Etios and Liva, the platforms need to be global to get economies of scale. They would get support from global platforms, but will suit Indian conditions on suspension, AC, engine, etc,” Raja said.
Localisation of hybrid technology will be an issue. “Localisation has to happen... if you are looking at hybrid systems to come or if you are looking at a valuable price proposition to come, you need localisation. It is the same chicken and egg story,” Raja said.
According to Anil Sharma, principal analyst, IHS Automotive, a hybrid power train does not make sense for the Indian market unless there are efforts made to localise the technology. “Then it is a different ball game. The Indian market will move in that direction to realise the potential of hybrids. Toyota may want to have a first-mover advantage. But all of it comes at a cost.”
Toyota has spent almost two decades in India and its one big success has been the Innova multi-purpose vehicle, which along with the Fortuner SUV, accounts for 70% of the profits of the company’s Indian operations.