Toyota Kirloskar Motor has released their sales figures for the month of March 2020 with the company registering an over 40% drop in sales including exports. The Japanese major sold a total of 8,022 cars including 999 units of the Etios series that were sent out for exports. In comparison in the same period last year, sales stood at 13,662 units of which 844 were exported. In domestic market alone Toyota was able to sell 7,023 cars in March, a drop of 45% from corresponding period last year when the company sold 12,818 units.
In March Toyota had also launched the Innova Crysta in a Leadership edition
According to the company it was able to successfully liquidate all its BS4 stocks even at the dealership level and in March was only supplying BS6 vehicles to its dealers (wholesales). Toyota Kirloskar Motor also added that to lessen the burden on its dealers, the company withheld sales by 50% for the month of March 2020, thereby giving them much needed cushion before the national lockdown was announced.
Commenting on the monthly sales, Mr. Naveen Soni, Senior Vice President, Sales and Service, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “We would like to reassure our dealer partners that they are the most important asset for us and we have been thinking about their sustainability. This pandemic has financially impacted all our dealerships across India. While the Government has announced several relief measures including moratoriums, we have also studied the fixed cost expenses of dealerships and have come up with a relief package called the COVID package to assist in maintaining liquidity to improve cash flow. The company is also planning towards ensuring proper sanitization of the dealerships once the national lockdown is over so as to ensure the safety of all our dealer staff as well as the customers who visit the outlets.”
The company has also announced the discontinuation of the Etios series and Corolla Altis
The month of March also witnessed the last batch of the Etios series as well as the Corolla Altis being manufactured at company’s plant in Bidadi, Karnataka as these cars have not been upgraded to BS6 emission norms. However, the company says it will continue to cater customers’ needs of these cars through Toyota service outlets along with the promise of availability of genuine spare parts for these discontinued models.
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