Japanese automotive major Toyota has launched the 2015 range of its popular multipurpose vehicles/sports utility vehicles Innova and Fortuner and outlined plans to introduce its bigger MUV Hiace.
The company expects the launch of new range and new models will enable it to enter into new segments, helping it to increase its market share.
The popular Fortuner now comes with a 4x4 automatic variant and the Innova, the largest selling MPV, now comes with a revamped and upgraded range.
Venkat Krishnan, General Manager of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said both the vehicles built on the Toyota Global Innovative Multipupose Vehicle (IMV) platform are designed to provide comfort, safety and fuel economy. Unlike many other vehicles built on monocoque (single shell) mode, these are based on a chassis.
The Innova and Fortuner are very successful products and both are trendsetters and leaders in the Indian automotive industry in the segment they operate. With Innova now turning 10, it was time to upgrade it with some more features, he said.
The Toyota executive said that the company is in the process of evaluating launch of some more models in segments it does not currently operate.
The company, which now has a market share of about 4.5 per cent in the country’s passenger car market, expects this to go up during the year with the launch of new range.
Referring to the country’s passenger market growth potential, he said that it is likely to grow this year as there are several pointers indicating this growth.
Asked about the impact of diesel and petrol price gap coming down, he said that there has been no big impact on larger vehicles. But in the segment where people use for local city commute, there is a shift towards petrol variants.