Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts will be setting up a new auto component plant at its Bidadi facility in Bangalore and it is here that powertrains for Toyota Etios and Toyota Etios Liva will be manufactured. The Japanese car maker will invest around Rs 500 crore in the set up and this will be the third unit at the facility which owned by Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan, Toyota Industries Corporation, Japan and Kirloskar Systems India. It is believed that with the new plant functional by August this year, the manufacturing capacity for the Etios sedan and the Etios Liva hatch will also improve.

At the other two plants at Bidadi, Toyota manufactures the manual transmission for the Toyota Fortuner SUV and Toyota Innova propeller shafts and axles. The third plant at the facility will help Toyota meet the rising demand for Etios sedan and Etios Liva in the domestic and foreign markets. Notably, with the rise in petrol prices, there has been an increasing demand for diesel cars and Etios sedan as well as Etios Liva in the hatchback segment offer much attractive pricing that has led to increase in preference for these cars over others including Skoda Rapid, Ford Fiesta, Honda City and others in the sedan segment and Skoda Fabia, Ford Figo and other hatches in the small car segment.

Also, there has been a recent rise in demand for these two Etios cars in the taxi segment and at this point of time these two are in great demand over Maruti Swift Dzire Tour in the taxi sedan segment and Tata Indica in the small car taxi segment. Two factors greatly help Toyota get an edge in the taxi segment. First is the brand value and established trust in the taxi segment for Toyota cars in India. Toyota Qualis had done exceptionally well what Toyota Innova has been doing and what Toyota Etios sedan and Etios Liva will be expectedly doing.

Where Toyota is busy making ground for success of its Etios and Etios Liva, the French automaker Renault is preparing also to step up the capacity of the Chennai plant. The car maker is soon to launch the SUV Renault Duster in India on July 4 and since this SUV is expected to get huge response, the car maker is considering to step up the capacity of its plant.