[.anshuman]

^^ How many of the Indian customers reject a Innova just because its 2wd. With Tata vehicles i believe, the less the gadgets the more reliable it is.

And How many Fortuner owners bought this SUV for AWD or 4WD. A cheaper 2wd variant might add to the sales substantially with everyone buying the 2wd version.

[xingamazon]

Have a question here.

If the case was in developed countries like US or UK, for example you launch a vehicle and demand shoots up do you think they would have said No booking from now on. I am sure they would have drawn a plan sooner to meet up the demands and make sure the cars are delivered, cos they know saying " Sorry we dont have cars buddy" wont go well with US or European customers, in fact even the Chinese customers off late. But this statement would go with Indians. Just my opinion, I guess its got to do with thier indian Partners Kirloskar too.

I guess every expansion plan would have to be agreed with them adding to the time delays.

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by scorpiobharath

Toyota Fortuner will have competition if tata Aria is launched as planned by End of this year.

A Toyota SUV vs a Tata van?
Tata Aria, IMO is going to create a segment. Wouldn't have anything to do with the fortuner.
Plus, the image Toyota has is leagues ahead of Tata.
PS: I'm not a Tata hater. On the contrary, I have 2 Tata daily drives and a few commercial vehicles of theirs.

Originally Posted by xingamazon

If the case was in developed countries like US or UK, for example you launch a vehicle and demand shoots up do you think they would have said No booking from now on. I am sure they would have drawn a plan sooner to meet up the demands and make sure the cars are delivered, cos they know saying " Sorry we dont have cars buddy" wont go well with US or European customers

Waiting periods and premium is a phenomenon that exists all over the world.
It's just a result of a Supply-Demand imbalance.

Infact, one of our american members mentioned that the latest camaro carries a premium of $3000 in his state and he was advised to source one from Michigan.

That said, we're more tolerant about cars unlike a few other countries.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

^^ How many of the Indian customers reject a Innova just because its 2wd. With Tata vehicles i believe, the less the gadgets the more reliable it is.

And How many Fortuner owners bought this SUV for AWD or 4WD. A cheaper 2wd variant might add to the sales substantially with everyone buying the 2wd version.

Right, in fact, the other day, when I was at the Toyota dealership, a customer who had just bought an Innova told me that his top end Innova costed him 16.5 lacs OTR Bangalore(Probably with a few accessories) and the Fortuner is 23.70 lacs which is a difference of around 7 lacs.

So, if Toyota can launch a 2wd version at say, 18 lacs OTR, it will result in sales from the Innova/Safari/Scorpio/Captiva segment too.

But I m sure it wont..

[4x4addict]

@xingamon:

Please buy today's Times of India, Chennai edition. There is an article on how Maruthi is loosing customers since they have much more demand than anticipated for certain models and are not able to keep up with demand. These kind of things happen to all manufacturers. Do you have any idea how much it costs to put up an modern Automobile assembly plant? Unless manufacturers are extremely sure of demand, they won't add a plant. Besides this novelty factor with Fortuner will eventually die out and what is Toyota going to do with the excessive capacity? All new models generally face good demand and it decreases over time.

You may think that this is some pre-planned move by Toyota management to screw the Indian consumer by keeping supply less than demand, but I don't think this is the case. The main problem is that the crystal ball which Toyota uses to accurately predict future demand and manage production has not been working. BTW, they were planning on manufacturing about 500 units a month and now they have doubled the capacity. Why do you think they did it?

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

Have a question here.

If the case was in developed countries like US or UK, for example you launch a vehicle and demand shoots up do you think they would have said No booking from now on. I am sure they would have drawn a plan sooner to meet up the demands and make sure the cars are delivered, cos they know saying " Sorry we dont have cars buddy" wont go well with US or European customers, in fact even the Chinese customers off late. But this statement would go with Indians. Just my opinion, I guess its got to do with thier indian Partners Kirloskar too.

I guess every expansion plan would have to be agreed with them adding to the time delays.

If Toyota was not making plans for expansion even during the economic downturn you would not seen or heard of the second plants that coming up near the existing one. They cannot build a plant overnight and also it needs substantial investment even increase the current capacity. If they did not have such capacity constraints or could build a plant overnight, they would launched the City competitor long long back.

Please note that they invested in the second plant through internal accruals which is very wise and they are not too dependent on the Parent company funds which in itself is excellent.

Once they are ready with the second plant, they will quite a bit of leverage to alter the production mix.

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

@xingamon:

Please buy today's Times of India, Chennai edition. There is an article on how Maruthi is loosing customers since they have much more demand than anticipated for certain models and are not able to keep up with demand. These kind of things happen to all manufacturers. Do you have any idea how much it costs to put up an modern Automobile assembly plant? Unless manufacturers are extremely sure of demand, they won't add a plant. Besides this novelty factor with Fortuner will eventually die out and what is Toyota going to do with the excessive capacity? All new models generally face good demand and it decreases over time.

You may think that this is some pre-planned move by Toyota management to screw the Indian consumer by keeping supply less than demand, but I don't think this is the case. The main problem is that the crystal ball which Toyota uses to accurately predict future demand and manage production has not been working. BTW, they were planning on manufacturing about 500 units a month and now they have doubled the capacity. Why do you think they did it?

+100 to 4x4 addict has to say.

[nilanjanray]

Guys, as some have pointed out, it is not 1st world pampering vs. us poor Indians being taken for a ride. It is simply a case of optimizing long term demand planning, capital investments and portfolio management. Pure business logic with a medium-long term horizon. Any good company would/should be doing that.

Where we 'poor' Indian suffer: lack of choices - we have to decide among what we can get here, even if we have to pay a bomb.

If A, B and C are offering a not so VFM product and getting high margins, why shouldn't D offer a slightly more VFM product and still get high margins? Why should they undercut, have less profit per vehicle, and try to saturate a market that is not that big enough to start with (expensive SUVs)? I am sure that Toyota has done their price elasticity of demand analysis, and portfolio investment opportunity cost analysis.

[GTO]

*Update*

Received notification from Toyota that Fortuner bookings are open again.

[nareshtrao]

Has anyone heard of Automatic Transmission on Fortuner? With the launch of so many new models, it is high time. I tried finding out with Toyota staff but they declined to comment and said there are no such plans.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by nareshtrao

Has anyone heard of Automatic Transmission on Fortuner? With the launch of so many new models, it is high time. I tried finding out with Toyota staff but they declined to comment and said there are no such plans.

Naresh, since the bookings are still strong, I dont think that Toyota will make any movements in the "automatic" segment. If you are interested in Fortuner, Why dont you book one [manual transmission] now itself? You will never know how fast will the booking close and when will it re-open !

Also can i assume that all back logs till now are cleared and the first order placed after the re-opening will have no wait time [assuming a normal delivery takes place in around 2-3 weeks?]

Edit: I guess Captiva has an automatic transmission if you are interested!

[akj53]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

" Sorry we dont have cars buddy" wont go well with US or European customers, in fact even the Chinese customers off late. But this statement would go with Indians. Just my opinion, I guess its got to do with thier indian Partners Kirloskar too.

I guess every expansion plan would have to be agreed with them adding to the time delays.

Unfortunately Indian customer is still at the mercy of manufacturer / dealer as there is no proper and strict grievance redressal system in place. therefore the Indian customers still do not exert themselves properly. that's why late deliveries, poor service and poor warranty claim fulfilment are the norm of the day.

However in case of Fortuner, Toyota never anticipated the overwhelming response and was not ready for the required production capacity. AFAIK kirloskar's hold only 1% equity so I doubt that they will have any say in production capacity planning, so they can't be blamed.

As competition is intensifying with more and more models with latest tech coming to the market, bastions of old segment leaders with outdated tech and or high prices are crumbling and new segment leaders are emerging. Cases in point are Civic, Jazz and FIGO. Still I agree that situation here is not good as in western countries and the another reason for that is also ignorance of the customers and the prevalent 'bher chaal' while buying.

[dhuli]

Originally Posted by GTO

*Update*
Received notification from Toyota that Fortuner bookings are open again.

Confirmed. There was an ad in ToI page 20, Bangalore ed. When I called the number to check on price the person on Toyota care said - between 19 and 20lakhs ex-showroom. When I asked exact price, i was told Rs.19.64lakhs and 20.45lakhs. I asked if there are two models. I was told no only one. On enquiring further was told - dont want to confuse you! It sounded more like the exec was confused .
Here is the ad...

[the VTEC guy]

Originally Posted by GTO

*Update*

Received notification from Toyota that Fortuner bookings are open again.

Any idea if they will keep the bookings open now onwards? I mean its been in market for long time and enough time for Toyota to increase there production capacity to meet the continual demand.

[narchennai]

Just checked up with dealer in Chennai and they have promised delivery within 3 months and they need me to come with draft for One lakh tomorrow morning.

Also I check Toyota India's website every week and now I find that all the factors or features ( Read highlights ) of Fortuner is missing suddenly. Does that mean they are working on to include an automatic option as well in the website? Just my guess.

[MAS]

s

Originally Posted by narchennai

Just checked up with dealer in Chennai and they have promised delivery within 3 months and they need me to come with draft for One lakh tomorrow morning.

Also I check Toyota India's website every week and now I find that all the factors or features ( Read highlights ) of Fortuner is missing suddenly. Does that mean they are working on to include an automatic option as well in the website? Just my guess.

Good observation Narchennai.

I seriously wish Toyota moves the bar higher with better interiors and equipment levels. If Toyota brings in a 2WD Fortuner and price it at 18 Lakhs Ex-Showroom, they would disappear from the product line itself....