Posts tagged: Toyota Maharashtra plants

Toyota Motor Corporation is planning to build three new vehicle assembly plants in India. With this, the company's production capacity in the country will more than double to 10 lakh units annually by 2030. According to Nikkei Asia report, due to recession in mature markets like America and China, global automakers are turning towards emerging markets. Toyota is also making India a major center of its future expansion.

New plants will be built in the state of Maharashtra. The first plant will be operational in 2029, while the remaining two will be operational in the 2030s. The total investment is estimated to be approximately 300 billion yen (about 1.9 billion dollars). These plants will not only serve as export hubs for the Indian market but also for the growing markets of Africa and the Middle East. Logistics is convenient due to Mumbai port being in Maharashtra. India's strong trade links with Africa-Middle East will boost exports.

Toyota's future plan

Currently, Toyota has three plants in South India, which mainly supply to the domestic market. With the new plants there will be a total of six factories. The new facility will produce three-row SUVs, which are quite popular in India and other emerging markets. It will be launched under the Corolla model. Apart from this, plug-in hybrid vehicles will also be manufactured, which will attract environmentally conscious customers.

India is an emerging market

India is currently the third largest market in the world in terms of sales of new vehicles. According to GlobalData, new vehicle sales in India are expected to reach 64.4 lakh units by 2030, which is 20% more than 2025. Africa's population is set to double to 2.5 billion by 2050, while the population of the Middle East is set to increase by 50% to 700 million. India's population will also reach 1.7 billion. It is clear from these figures that Toyota's growth in western markets will largely depend on India-based exports.

Dominance of Japanese companies

India has proved to be a fertile land for Japanese companies. Suzuki Motor has been active here since 1982 and its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki holds 40% share in the passenger vehicle market. Suzuki also supplies some models to Toyota, like Maruti EVX. Toyota is strong in the minivan, SUV and hybrid segments, which is meeting the growing demand of the middle class.

Other companies from all over the world are also investing heavily in India. Hyundai Motor bought General Motors' plant in 2023 and increased SUV production. The company holds more than 10% share in the Indian passenger vehicle market. Toyota's current production capacity is 31 lakh units in Japan, 22 lakh in China and 15 lakh units in America. With the new Indian plants, India will become the company's fourth largest production base.