Report: Toyota, Daihatsu To Develop Low-Cost Car For Emerging Markets
18 October 2009
The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor Corp. plans to develop a compact car with subsidiary minicar specialist Daihatsu Motor Co. and sell it for less than ¥1 million (US$11,000) in India, Brazil, China and elsewhere starting in the first half of the next decade. Toyota currently holds a 51.2% stake in Daihatsu.
This will mark the two firms’ first joint development of a strategic vehicle for overseas markets. The move is in line with Toyota President Akio Toyoda’s vision of tailoring product offerings to suit individual regions, rather than the conventional Toyota business model of basically offering the same lineup all over the world.
Aside from the joint effort with Daihatsu, Toyota has been developing on its own a compact entry-level family car powered by a roughly 1-liter engine. The company is looking to begin manufacturing that car in India in around 2011 and sell it for around 1.2 million yen (US$13,200).
The planned price would have to drop by more than 60% if they want to compete with the Tata Nano in India.
Posted by: HarveyD | 18 October 2009 at 08:17 AM
Yup in alot of places 11000 is more then the cost of a home and car.
Posted by: wintermane2000 | 18 October 2009 at 08:00 PM