Business
The auto industry has a longer industry cycle of about 6-8 years. The policies, therefore, cannot be made in a myopic manner of say 2-3 years
Updated : Mar 24, 2018, 03:47 AM IST
Industrialist Vikram Kirloskar of Kirloskar Group has been the face of Toyota-Kirloskar Motors Pvt Ltd for years, where he serves as vice chairman. In an interview with Shahkar Abidi, he spoke about the automobile industry, the government policies and the effect of demonetization on the company while also shedding light on the recent developments involving the joint venture with the Japanese giant.
I got to know about the meeting with PM when it came out in the newspapers. However, I was kept in the loop about the developments happening there in Japan earlier between the two auto rivals. While Suzuki is good in certain things like small cars, Toyota is good in few others like technology, safety, etc. So it's kind of creating a synergy between them for mutual benefits.
I will not comment on what Rajiv or what someone else wants to say about BS-IV. Our point of view is that we as a company have always been compliant with all the regulatory laws, whether it is regarding emission, or safety, or anything else. We, as a company, will not be approaching the court on this.
The various initiatives of the government like the ease of doing business or Make in India are visionary efforts and cannot be brushed aside with criticism, though one can always find problems with the nitty-gritty of it. The auto industry has a longer industry cycle, which can be about 6-8 years. The policies, therefore, cannot be made in a myopic manner of say 2-3 years. It should instead take a long-term view of 10-15 years.
I don't think that is correct. We were three partners in the venture and one of the promoters has a large hospital business in Japan with over 5,000 beds. The reason I got involved in the hospital was to see Kirloskar Systems's technology in the hospital. Once it got developed, we opted out of it as we are not the people who run hospitals. Our partner, which specialises in hospitals, wanted to expand. So, it made sense for us move out.
The demonetization, in fact, had a positive effect on us. In the month of December 2016, Toyota sold 12,747 units in the domestic market, making it the highest sale in December in the last five years. In November, though there was a dip in enquiries and bookings, its back to normal now. The best part is that the rupee has gained strength after demonetization, which surely helps in the business.
There may be several cars in the competition. But then, Innova comes out as most economical when you consider the usage cost of the lifetime of the car. It comes out to be the cheapest.
Our exports due to the staleness of products have in fact gone down. The numbers have gone down to 13,300 in past over 12 months as compared to around 20,000 in the preceding period.