Toyota to build Camry in India

The much applauded Camry will be soon be manufactured in Toyota’s Indian manufacturing facility. The Japanese major is looking at making Camry in the country as importing the car as it does now means paying high import duty in India.

Update: Fortuner launched! Rs 18.5 lakhs, diesel, 171 PS. Click here for more.

Photo: Toyota Camry

Toyota wants to save on that amount by building the car in India. The decision benefit the customer too, as the company might bring down price of Camry by as much as 20-25 per cent, which in rupee terms would be around Rs 5 lakh.

Toyota Camry, which is currently being imported from Japan, attracts a composite import duty of 110 per cent. This has been forcing the company to sell the Camry for prices starting from Rs 21 lakh.

If the company manages to bring it down to Rs 16 lakhs, the car would become affordable for a much larger number of people.

Industry observers said that when the company kicks starts its India production of the Camry, it will be ready to take on models of the likes of Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata and Skoda Laura in the executive segment.

The executive segment currently sees more than 25,000 cars in sales every year. The imported Camry currently competes with models such as the Mercedes C Class and Skoda Superb in the premium segment, which has a market size of 8,000 units a year.

TheToyota Camry is one of Toyota’s most successful cars worldwide.

Toyota currently sells the Toyota Innova MPV, Toyota Corolla and the Camry in India through a joint venture with Kirloskar Group.

Apart from making the Camry in India, the Japanese major is also gone ahed with plans to launch its Fortuner sports-utility vehicle (SUV) in the Indian market this year itself. It is expected that the Fortuner will be brought into India as completely-knocked-down (CKD) units and will assemble all parts of the vehicle in India after importing it. The reason said behind this is that the CKD route would help Toyota maintain price competitiveness.