Toyota Goes All Out In India

Despite government witch hunts ( recently cancelled, supposedly) and subsidized competitors, Toyota is holding its own. Just. But like Toyota said, they’re going on the offensive. They’ve upped the incentives (but are still below industry average) and launching new warranties to confirm their commitment to their products. But they’re also pushing into new markets to offset their reliance on the North American market (and also to make more money). Now one of those markets is India. The formula is very simple there. Cheap, reliable, safe, and cheap. And that’s what Toyota is trying to do. About time. Suzuki is eating everybody’s lunch in India.

CarTradeIndia.com reports that Toyota has set December this year as the time when Toyota’s Etios will be launched in India. The promos are already making the rounds in India, but December is “bring to market” time.

“It has been a challenge to build quality at a lower price,” said Hiroshi Nakagawa, Toyota India’s Managing Director, “The Indian car market is one of the toughest markets in the world. Customers and car owners are very cost-conscious.” (Did we mention Suzuki?)

In order to keep the price of this vehicle under control (and, therefore, in the price bracket of many Indians) Toyota sourced 70 percent of the car within India. But does local sourcing mean a compromise in quality? Well, according to Executive Vice President Yukitoshi Funo, the mantra is simple: ‘Get quality or die trying’.

“Bringing procurement cost to a very competitive level is s do or die challenge for our procurement and production teams,” Funo said. (Anyone going to make the standard “ Seppuku” joke?)

But engineering a car acceptable enough for Indians’ wallets was only half the battle; how do you make a car acceptable for Indians’ tastes? Simple. You get a celebrity spokesperson for your vehicle and Toyota secured a good one. A R Rahman. Don’t know him? Don’t blame you. But to nearly 1.2 billion people, he’s very well known. Time magazine called him the “Mozart of Madras (Chennai)”. Rahman has sold over 100 million records (yes, they still make them in India), he has composed music for many Indian films (and the Indians LOVE their Bollywood films), he won 2 Academy Awards for his work on “Slumdog Millionaire”.

This guy is now the “brand ambassador” for the Toyota Etios reports OneIndia. This is Toyota’s secret weapon in cracking the Indian market. To give some context to this development, imagine that General Motors managed to secure Tom Cruise as its front-man. (Wait, does he sing?) Imagine the marketing capabilities. If I were Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Hyundai, I would be scared. Very scared.