Toyota Kirloskar Motor expects a spike in demand for Innova Crysta and Fortuner before it rolls out the costly BS6 versions of these two hot-selling vehicles
Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM) will roll out the BSVI-compliant versions of the Innova Crysta and Fortuner, two of its most popular models, in the coming months. It may be noted here that all carmakers in the country are required to upgrade their models to achieve BSVI-compliant ahead of the 1 April 2020 deadline.
While many carmakers have already started rolling out BSVI-compliant versions of their existing models, others, like TKM, plan to do it in the coming months. It is likely that the BSVI-compliant versions of the Toyota Innova Crysta and Fortuner will be up to Rs 5 lakh costlier than their BSIV-compliant counterparts.
This increase in price will be courtesy of the addition of new filters and a reworked exhaust system that will be required to cut down on the emissions from the diesel motors. It is being said that upgrading the current diesel engines to meet the stricter emission norms is turning out to be an unfeasible option for small cars.
Hence, most models in the affordable end of the car market will soon bid goodbye to their diesel variants. Bigger cars, like the Toyota Innova Crysta and Fortuner, however, will continue to be available with diesel engine options. However, they are bound to become a lot costlier than their present versions.
Therefore, many buyers could decide to make a purchase ahead of the rolling out of the BSVI version and save a lot of money in the process. Toyota Kirloskar Motor is hoping that this anticipated boost in sales could help the carmaker counter the sales slump that has affected almost every carmaker in the country.
Toyota India Deputy Managing Director N Raja has reportedly said, “We are trying to educate our customers, particularly in fleet and employee transport, shared mobility, tell them the cost increase that is going to come and try to provide them solutions accordingly, either BS-IV or BS-VI, to suit their needs. They (fleet operators) would be better off buying BS IV than going for BS VI.“