Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, is eyeing India's 500,000 per annum compact car market. A team from Daihatsu visited India last month to assess the market conditions.
At the moment, it is not clear whether Daihatsu will enter the market on its own or its products would be launched under the Toyota banner. Toyota has a manufacturing venture in India in collaboration with the Kirloskar Group, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd.
Auto analysts however pointed out that since Daihatsu is not a well-known brand in India, Toyota may want to launch the compact cars under its own banner.
Daihatsu is one of Japan's leading carmakers with core competence in making compact cars. The current range of models in the Daihatsu stable include Cuore (sold as Charade in some markets), Sirion, YRV, Terios and Copen.
Toyota Kirloskar executives refused to comment on Daihatsu's plans for India. However, a company spokesperson said that the next launch from the company will look at large volume, which need not be a compact car.
It is however learnt that top-level delegation from Daihatsu, had visited India in December last year.
The compact car market in India is expected to see a lot of heat in the coming year. Most of the leading automobile manufacturers across the world, who either already have a base in India or those yet to arrive here are eyeing the compact car segment in India. Toyota's Yariz and Suzuki's Swift are also believed to be launched in India soon.
For the year ended March 31, 2004, Daihatsu Motor sold 540,846 mini-cars in Japan, representing a 29.1 per cent share of the market. Its market share rose above the previous high of 27.8 per cent registered in fiscal 2001, supporting growth in sales and profits on a consolidated basis for the second consecutive fiscal year.
Daihatsu Motor already has a strong presence in Asia with joint ventures or dealer network in Bangladesh, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.