Recent reports suggesed Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) was planning to bring Daihatsu small cars to India. Although the company is yet to divulge any plan regarding the same, if a report of Shifting Gears is anything to by, Toyota will decide on the entry of Daihatsu in India only after August 2016, once the company completes the buyout process of the Daihatsu Motor Co, the oldest Japanese car manufacturer. Toyota is expected to complete the process by August.
The entry of Daihatsu in India has started gaining traction after it was said that one of the models of the company would be imported to India. The latest report says that while the company will take a final call on the matter after August, the imported model could be brought for benchmarking purpose by the rival companies or for internal testing and training purpose. Recently, Daihatsu President Masanori Mitsui had said that the company, which has presence in Indonesia and Malaysia, is yet to finalise its next market.
However, rumours are rife that Toyota is seriously considering Daihatsu small cars for India to challenge the dominance of Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai in the domestic market. It has been reported that a team of Daihatsu has started working on the small car project for the Indian market and is also analyzing the possibility of introducing the existing models into the market.
A recent report on LiveMint said a team led by Masanori Takahashi, senior executive officer at Daihatsu Motor, was in Bengaluru to plan the entry of Daihatsu models in India. It was also reported that Daihatsu models would be sold with the Toyota badge.
