Toyota Officially Inaugurates India Production Facility

Tokyo―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) officially christened its production base in India today by holding an inauguration ceremony at the Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd. (TKM) plant in southern Karnataka State.

Guests at the ceremony included Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna and State Industry Minister R V Deshpande. TMC's Honorary Chairman, Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, and TKM President Sachio Yamazaki were also present.

Preliminary automobile production at TKM began in December 1999 with the line-off of the Qualis, a multipurpose vehicle geared especially for the Indian market. Sales of the Qualis started in January this year. At full throttle, TKM will have a production capacity of 50,000 units a year.

TMC has initially invested 16.4 billion yen in TKM for plant construction and other costs.