Toyota says now it is difficult to cut down waiting period for Innova & Fortuner

TKM is unable to cope with the high demand for the Toyota Innova Crysta and the Toyota Fortuner reports Financial Express. The two models currently have a waiting period ranging from 6 to 10 weeks, which is unlikely to come down anytime soon as the company's manufacturing facility is already operating at 95% capacity.

N Raja, director and senior V-P (marketing & sales), TKM commented on the issue:

We are facing production constraints as we have touched peak capacity utilisation in our first plant in Bengaluru where the UVs are manufactured. The first plant has the maximum production capacity of 100,000 units.

While TKM has another under-utilized manufacturing facility with an installed capacity of 210,000 units per annum, it rolls out the slow-selling Etios twins and the Corolla Altis. This facility is not equipped to manufacture Toyota's UVs.

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TKM has approached the parent company in Japan to help alleviate the issue. It has also urged Toyota HQ to look into bringing new products to capitalise on the increased demand for UVs. The Innova and Fortuner have been the primary sales drivers for Toyota in India. Despite being priced in the 15-40 lakh bracket, the two account for more than 70% of Toyota's total sales in India. Despite doubling monthly production of the Fortuner from 1,000 units to 2,000 units, the SUV continues to command a waiting period of 6-10 weeks. For an Innova Crysta, customers have to wait anywhere between 4-6 weeks.

[source - Financial Express]