Toyota to manufacture Suzuki cars at its second plant on the outskirts of Bengaluru; will help the brand to utilize the capacity more
Toyota and Suzuki announced their new partnership in March 2018 as both companies had agreed to share models. Suzuki will supply Baleno and Vitara Brezza, while Toyota is going to share its popular sedan, Corolla. Both companies had also announced that they would develop electric and hybrid vehicles for the Indian market.
According to a new report, Toyota is going to manufacture Suzuki cars at its second plant on the outskirts of Bengaluru. This plant currently produces only Etios and Liva as both models are not selling in good numbers and it will help Toyota to utilize the capacity. But the decision on which models to be manufactured at the plant is not yet taken.
Toyota is currently conducting a feasibility study of making Suzuki cars and the company will finalize the models after the study. The top executives from both companies have already visited factories of each other, and Toyota has also met some of the major suppliers for Suzuki in India as they want to know whether these suppliers could meet quality standards of Toyota.
This deal will further strengthen the partnership between both companies as it solves each others’ problems. But we don’t know yet who will invest for the manufacturing and whether the models manufactured at Toyota plant will be for exports only, as the quality of Suzuki products sold in India is lower than international spec models.
The Bengaluru plant might manufacture both Baleno and Vitara Brezza for Toyota as it will give them more control over the products. Suzuki is expected to supply around 20,000-25,000 units of Baleno to Toyota each year. Toyota and Suzuki might officially announce the new development once they take a final decision.
Toyota’s version of Baleno and Vitara Brezza will have lots of design changes, but the interior and features list might be carried over from their donor versions along with engines. Both these models are powered by same 1.3 L diesel engine and Baleno is also available with a petrol engine.