Toyota to delay Liva to produce more Etios

Toyota Kirloskar Motor said it will delay the launch of Liva, its first hatchback in India, by two months to June and use the facility to produce more Etios sedans.

Etios received a fantastic response with 7,086 cars being booked within a week of launch. In all, Toyota has received 26,800 bookings, but has managed to deliver only 5,800 cars so far.

By using the Liva assembly line, Toyota hopes to halve the waiting time for Etios, which is about 8 months to a year now.

DNA had in February reported that customers have started cancelling bookings due to the long waiting periods.

“Toyota had promised the delivery of the Etios in 4-6 months. However, the waiting period further increased to 8-10 months. Some customers have been asked to wait for even one year,” said a Pune-based dealer, who did not wish to be identified.

“If we don’t push back the Liva, we’ll be creating more and more unhappy customers,” Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director of Toyota Kirloskar, said.

“We sincerely apologise to people eagerly waiting for the hatchback, for the postponement of the launch. We will do everything we can to limit inconvenience caused to our customers,” Singh said in a statement.

“We want to first address the huge demand generated for Etios and make sure that the deliveries are on time for the customers who are waiting for the car,” Singh said.

Toyota’s second plant in Bidadi, Karnataka, which produces only the Etios, is also operational. It has a capacity of producing 70,000 vehicles, running at full tilt.

However, Toyota is currently running it on a single shift. To further bring down waiting period, Toyota will add one more shift. Toyota is producing 2,500 Etios on a monthly basis till the second shift starts.

“We are in the process of increasing our production by adding one more shift and increasing efficiency,” Singh had said earlier.

Other steps to bring down the waiting period include changes to takt time (production time per vehicle).

However, the company did not wish to give details on current takt time and the kind of changes it plans to make.

“Details on production numbers and whether we would need an additional investment for increasing capacity will be announced soon,” said Singh.