Toyota 100% transmissions plant in progress

Chennai: The construction of Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts’ (TKAP) 100-per cent auto transmission plant is in full swing at Bidadi, Karnataka. The 1.6-lakh capacity plant is coming up near the existing Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) car plant.

TKAP is a three-way joint venture between Toyota Industries Corporation, TKM and Kirloskar Systems. The Toyota Industries and TKM combine holds 90-per cent stake, while the balance is held by the Kirloskars. The production is expected to start in June 2004.

TKAP is the second major investment in India for the Toyota group in recent times. The group has invested around Rs 925 crore in TKM in two phases (the initial start-up outlay was Rs 700 crore and the expansion was Rs 225 crore). “If one takes into account the Rs 300-crore investment made by our component suppliers, the total outlay in India for the Japanese auto group is around Rs 1,225 crore,” says TKM deputy managing director K K Swamy.

Toyota Industries currently assembles four models of Toyota Motor Corporation — Vitz (Yaris in Europe), Sprinter Carib (Corolla Wagon outside Japan), RAV4 (a compact sports utility vehicle) and bB (an open deck compact with small pickup bed).

Incidentally, none of the above models are currently rolled out by TKM in India. The new models on the anvil from TKM are: Camry (a luxury car to be imported as completely-built unit) and Corolla (a mid-sized car, to be made here).

As in the car project, TKAP will have high local content — around 80 per cent — and the company has started looking for component suppliers. Given the critical nature of the product, TKAP intends to enlist two vendors for major components. Presently the car company has one vendor for each component.