DriveInside.com | Sunday August 29, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) will begin the trial production of its upcoming small car, the Etios, in September 2010. The car is scheduled to be launched commercially in December 2010, and will undergo two rounds of trial production before that. The second round will begin in October. Mr Shekhar Vishwanathan, Deputy Managing Director TKM, told Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday July 30, 2010
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has announced a global recall of 400,000 units of the Avalon and 80,000 units of the Lexus to correct a fault in the vehicles’ steering. Over 400,000 of the affected vehicles are in the US, while the remaining units are spread across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, China and Japan. The Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday July 21, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) this week launched a diesel version of the Corolla Altis, priced between Rs 10.95 lakh and Rs 13.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The car is powered by a 1.4-litre D-4D Common Rail Diesel Engine, and comes with 6-speed manual transmission. It delivers a mileage of 21.43 km/litre – the best in its segment. TKM Deputy MD, Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday July 15, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) will be launching a diesel variant of its premium sedan, the Toyota Corolla Altis, by the end of July 2010. The car is expected to be powered by a 1.4-litre D-4D engine, also used in the international Corolla and the Toyota Yaris, and will compete with the Chevrolet Cruze and the Skoda Laura. TKM Deputy MD, Mr Sandeep Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday July 7, 2010
Toyota Motor is planning to set up a new auto-component plant on the outskirts of Bangalore, to manufacture engines for its upcoming small car, the Toyota Etios. Expected to be operational by 2012, the plant will be used to produce engines and transmissions, and will be built at an initial investment of Rs 500 crore. Mr KG Mohan, Senior Vice Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday July 5, 2010
Toyota Motor has recalled 91,903 units of its Lexus range of luxury cars and Crown sedans in Japan, due to faulty valve springs in the cars’ engines. The affected cars are a part of the bigger recall announced by Toyota on July 02, 2010, involving a total of 270,000 cars globally. The company said that eight of its Lexus and Crown models, produced Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday July 1, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) announced this week that it would reopen bookings for its SUV, Toyota Fortuner, from July 1, 2010. Bookings for the vehicle have been closed since January 31, 2010, because of a prolonged backlog in deliveries. TKM’s Deputy Managing Director (Marketing), Mr Sandeep Singh, said that bookings would be open for a limited Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday June 24, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has decided not to start a third shift at its plant in Bidadi, due to logistical and infrastructure-related difficulties. There is currently a seven-month waiting period for the Toyota Fortuner and a one-month waiting period for the Toyota Innova. TKM Deputy MD, Mr Shekhar Viswanathan, told reporters that a third shift Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday June 3, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has introduced a special edition version of its popular MPV, the Toyota Innova, to commemorate 5 years of the vehicle’s launch in India. The company will release only 700 units of the special edition model, priced at Rs 8.87 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). TKM Deputy Managing Director, Mr Sandeep Singh, said that since its Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday May 1, 2010
Following in the footsteps of Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor too is planning to export its upcoming small car, the Etios, to Europe, to benefit from the higher profit margins there. The company had earlier said that the Etios would be exported to countries around India and South Africa from its plant in Bidadi, near Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday April 29, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has been replacing the brake-kits in its SUV, Fortuner, on a case-by-case basis. The company said that it was changing the brake-kits only for customers who had complained about braking problems, and that this was being done to ‘give a better feeling of braking to the driver’. Mr Sandeep Singh, the Deputy Managing Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday April 16, 2010
Beleaguered Japanese automaker Toyota announced yet another massive vehicle recall in North America last week. The company will recall 600,000 units of its Sienna minivan in the US and another 270,000 in Canada to repair a problem with the vehicle’s spare tyre. It said that there was a risk of the Sienna’s spare tyre separating from the vehicle Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday April 15, 2010
Japanese auto company Toyota has halted the sale of the 2010 Lexus GX 460 in the US in response to a report in Consumer Reports magazine that warns customers about the SUV’s handling problems. A Lexus Group representative said that the company was determined to identify and correct the handling problem, which according to Consumer Reports can lead Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday April 7, 2010
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood this week proposed that Toyota Motor Corporation pay a penalty of $16.4 million for hiding the ‘dangerous’ defect in its cars’ accelerator pedals for months before taking corrective steps. Companies in the US are legally required to report safety defects within five business days – something that Toyota Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday April 5, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is planning to take its ‘Q’ World show to ten smaller cities between May and July 2010. The company had started the Toyota ‘Q’ World parade in 10 major metro cities across India right after the Delhi Auto Expo in January 2010. While it had showcased its entire range of products in India in these cities, the second leg Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday March 29, 2010
Japan’s number-one auto company, Toyota, will be providing hybrid technology to Mazda, under a new agreement. Mazda, which is currently Japan’s 5th biggest automaker, wants to launch a hybrid model as soon as possible, which is one of the reasons why it has tied up with Toyota. With the Japanese government giving major tax exemptions to carmakers Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday March 27, 2010
Toyota Kirloskar Motor will start producing its small car Etios at its second unit in Bangalore by the end of this year. TKM Managing Director, Mr Hiroshi Nakagawa, said last week that the company would first see the response to the Etios in the domestic market, and would later start exporting it to neighbouring countries, possibly from the Ennore Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday March 22, 2010
Toyota Motor’s petition to the Delhi High Court asking for a restraint on Delhi-based ‘Prius Auto Industries’ from using the trademark ‘Prius’ was dismissed last week. Prius Auto manufactures vehicle components and has been in the business for over 6 years now, with bulk orders from companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, GM and Hyundai. The Court Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday March 13, 2010
General Motors Vice Chairman, Robert A. Lutz, who will retire from the company this spring, said last week that GM would not capitalize on its Japanese competitor Toyota’s recalls. He said that it was unlikely for Toyota customers to switch directly to Ford or Chevrolet, and that there was little transference between domestic buyers and import Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday March 8, 2010
American car companies, General Motors and Ford, may be able to win over a good share of erstwhile Toyota loyalists if they continue to focus on quality. Until its recent spate of car recalls, Toyota was considered the most reliable of all auto companies in the US. However, customers are now seriously considering switching to GM or Ford, which Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday February 25, 2010
Toyota Motor Corp President, Akio Toyoda, said in Washington this week that he was ‘deeply sorry’ for all accidents that involved Toyota cars. While Mr Toyoda looked composed at the three-hour long congressional hearing in the US capital, he broke into tears a few hours later at an event organised by Toyota. He said that his company had always Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday February 23, 2010
Japanese car company Mazda Motor Corp has said that it will not try to lure away Toyota’s customers through marketing campaigns, but will instead focus on building its own internal transparency. A number of carmakers are trying to capitalize on Toyota’s troubles by launching marketing campaigns to draw customers away from the beleaguered Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday February 19, 2010
The President of Toyota Motor Corp, Mr Akio Toyoda, agreed last week to appear before the US Congressional Panel investigating the company’s car recalls. Toyoda had earlier said that he would not be present for the hearing as he trusted Toyota’s US officials to handle the situation effectively. However, he changed his plan and decided to go for Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday February 17, 2010
Toyota Motor Corp may have to recall one its most popular cars, the Corolla subcompact, if the glitch in the car’s power-steering is found to be serious. The company has been checking the car for steering problems, after receiving a slew of complaints from customers.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor President, Akio Toyoda, has decided not to attend the Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday February 10, 2010
Toyota Motor Corporation this week announced the recall of around 436,000 of its hybrid vehicles globally, including the latest 2010 Prius model, the Prius PHV (plug-in hybrid), the Sai and the Lexus HS250h. The company recalled 223,068 hybrid cars in Japan, and 213,000 cars outside the country, including 150,000 in North America, due to Read More...