The Japanese automobile giant, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, has re-launched its best selling multi-utility vehicle, the Toyota Innova in a modified avatar on Saturday. This has come as a measure to further stimulate the sales of this flagship MUV.
Taking full advantage of the festive season, the company has launched this revised version of the Toyota Innova for prices ranging between Rs. 12.45 lakh to Rs. 15.06 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi), which is a hike of Rs. 10, 000 to Rs. 15, 000 from that of its previous model. Besides the other new features, the improved version of Toyota Innova comes with a new front grille, as well as chrome lined fog lamps.
Speaking about the new Toyota Innova, the Managing Direction and CEO of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Hiroshi Nakagawa explained: “Toyota is constantly focused on developing our products based on the feedback we receive from our customers. The Innova being one of our flagship brands enjoy a patronage of over 4 lakh happy customers and has many accolades to its credit. We believe with the introduction of the new Innova, the ownership experience of our customers will be further enhanced.”
It’s important to note that following a whopping growth of 33.92% in FY-13, with sales recorded at 77,062 units, the Innova sales showed a sharp drop by 33.34% between April and August to 22, 124 units compared to the 33, 194 units sale in the same period last year. The Innova sales drop has been simultaneous with that of the bigger utility vehicle segment (4400mm-4700mm priced above Rs. 8-15 lakhs), which showed a drop in sales to 81, 491 units between April and August this year, compared to the mammoth 1, 02,916 units sold last year during the same period. The main culprits behind the drop have been the rising price of diesel, and the hiked excise duty by the government on utility vehicles this year.
