axa Moot &SHALY SETH MORE New Dei 25 Moy Japanese automobile major Toyota's India subsidiary is likely to produce models developed by Suzuki for sale {nthe Indian market through real out- Jets of Maruti Suzuki and Toyota, These ‘models, nd others from Suzuki, will alsobe exported to markets like Africa {orsale through thenetworkofthetwo ‘Japanese entities. Toyotss local entity ‘has capacity to produce 310,000 vehi- cles year buts able to use just half of the capacity from the current sales. “Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMO) agreed on Friday tostart dis ceussions on new joint projects in the elds of technological devel- ‘opment, vehicle production ‘and market development, the two entities said in a statement. ‘Another area of discussion ‘wil be the offer of technological sup- port by Denso Corporation and Toyota for & compact, ultra-high-efficiency ‘powertrain tobe developed by Suzuki With this move the two companies aim to strengthen their positions in a car ‘market that is touted to become the PLAYING TO THEIR STRENGTHS * Suzuki to develop a compact, ultra-high efficiency engine * Denso Corp and Toyota to, provide technological supportto Suzuki forthis "Toyota and Suzuki to advance ‘cooperation in the domains of logistics and services * The move will help thetivo companies to improve cost structure third largest globally by 2020. RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti suzuki, sald while Maruti Suzuki was facinga shortage of capacity, there was ‘asurplus unused capacity with Toyota in India. “Toyota will eabletouse the spare capacity and Maratican expand sales, Since the products willbesold by ‘both the brands, they should be dis- tunct and not identical,” he said, Shekar Viswanathan, vice-chair- man and whole-time ‘director of ‘Toyota's India arm, said the move ‘wotild help both the companies to Improve the cost structure and give ‘moze meaningto the partnership. ‘Since the conclusion of last year’s memorandum towards business part- nership, the two companieshave been exploring concrete projects fr collab- oration in areas such as environmental technology safety technology, infor- mation technology. and the mutual supply of products and components. “They have also been broadening the ‘scope of their partnership consid trations to include joint efforts ‘elated to production and mar- ket development. "The EWo companies have ‘already ‘announced 2 decision to jointly. work towards development of elec: triccars forthe Indian market, due for launch in 2020. Toyotas India unit will also source two cars manufactured by ‘Manati Suzuki, the Baleno and Brezza, Including thei hybrid variants, and in return Toyota will offer its Corolla Sedan to Maruti, These vehicles, with some changes, will be badged under ‘themame ofthe company selling them. “As members of Indian society, ‘Toyota, along with Suzuki, will do its bestto enhance freedom and fun in a future society of mobility and to make ‘Make in India’ vehicles cherished in ‘Africa and in many other countries ‘around the world” Akio Toyoda, pres- {dent of TMC, said in the statement. ‘Osamu Suzuki, chairman, SMC, said they hoped the new joint projects ‘would contribute tothe future success ‘of both companies, not only in India, Dutalso in the global market. ‘intensifying competition, rising costs, stricter regulations and an emphasis on green technologies by the Indian government are prompt- ing automobile firms to collaborate and share costs. fanything, such non- ‘strategic partnerships are precursor tothe auto companies working togeth- er to tide over the technological disruptions that are set to unfold lover the next decade. In March this year, homegrown auto. major Mahindra and Mahindra and ‘American car maker Ford signed & slew of non-binding agreements to collaborate on future technologies ‘and joint product development. | SSS SSE