— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

SKILL ENHANCEMENT: Union Heavy Industries Minister, Sontosh Mohan Dev, flanked by Y. Inaba (left), Executive Vice-President, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan, and Vikram Kirloskar, Vice-Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, with the simulator at the launch of Toyota technical education programme in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: Toyota Motor Corporation has been planning to enter the small car segment in India, but has not yet finalised its plans. However, with the aim of reaching a 10 per cent market share by 2010, its small car is likely to hit the Indian roads within the next two to three years.

"Sooner than later we will be able to announce plans for India. We are now studying the Indian market to ascertain how and when we come into it,'' Toyota Motor Corporation Executive Vice President Yoshimi Inaba told reporters while launching the Toyota-Technical Education Programme (T-TEP) here on Wednesday.

"Of all the emerging markets we are targeting, including Brazil, Russia, India and China, India is becoming a priority, as we see competition here,'' Mr. Yoshimi Inaba said.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has launched the T-TEP in association with Toyota Motor Corporation and its nationwide dealer network, at an investment of Rs. 25 crore.

Affordable cars

New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:

Earlier, inaugurating the training programme, Heavy Industries Minister Sontosh Mohan Dev urged Toyota to make small and affordable cars in the country to compete with Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL). He said small vehicles were ideal for India owing to the affordability as well as flexibility for easy parking. Mr. Yoshima Inaba conceded that it was natural to look at the small car segment for this country but no decision had yet been taken on the issue.

Under the training programme, Toyota will partner with 20 industrial training institutes in India till the year 2009 and will train over 1,000 students every year. In the first phase of the programme, Toyota has partnered with four technical institutes in Delhi, Chennai, Hubli (Karnataka), and Mumbai.

The programmeenvisages that the company will train instructors of the institutes to enhance the skill sets and employability of ITI students in the 15-18 age group. Besides, the students will undergo on-the-job training at Toyota's dealerships, and 11 Toyota dealers have been certified for training these technicians.

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