Toyota to maintain 30 pc less output till February

NEW DELHI: The world's largest carmaker, Toyota, on Wednesday said it will continue to produce less to the tune of 30 per cent in the Indian market till February, but hopes to ramp up its output from March this year.

"The market has not improved yet from last year's slowdown and so we have decided to continue with the 30 per cent production cut that we started in November-December, till February," Toyota Kirloskar Motor Managing Director Hiroshi Nakagawa told reporters here.

The company, which operates in India through a joint venture with Kirloskar Group -- Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) -- has been undertaking a 30 per cent cut to produce about 3,000 units per month since November last year owing to slowdown in the auto market. It has an installed capacity to produce 5,000 vehicles a month.

"We are facing a difficult period in the domestic market and it will continue for the next couple of months and it is expected that the market will grow again from the second half of the year," Nakagawa said. "By March we hope the market should start improving and so does our production," he added.

TKM had a sales target of 60,000 units for 2008. However, it could sell only 51,803 units during the year, TKM Deputy Managing Director (Marketing) Sandeep Singh said. "We are targeting to sell a total of 54,600 units during the current year," he added.