IIf you are heading to a Toyota showroom to order the new Innova Highcross, you may be disappointed. This relatively new vehicle from the Japanese carmaker has the longest waiting period. Booking today could mean that the car will be delivered as early as 2025.
There are several reasons for this delay, including the enduring popularity of the Innova, now in its third generation – not only among taxi operators but also among families. While the Innova is sold as a regular petrol car, and Toyota still offers the older Crysta with a diesel motor, the popularity of the new variant has taken the company by surprise.
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Vikram Gulati, country head of Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), the Indian subsidiary of the Japanese carmaker, told me that they are ramping up production by 30 per cent to be able to meet the additional demand for the car. Still, with TKM committed to providing a certain amount of production to its partner Maruti-Suzuki (their version of the Innova will be called the Invicto and is nearing launch), increasing output may only make a small difference in the short term . Duration.
Gulati laments, “Increasing production is not like turning on the tap, I wish they could meet the demand of the Innova…When we increase production, even the smallest component maker in our system has to increase its production It appears that the automotive industry in India was not prepared for the post-Covid boom in sales, and while top-tier manufacturers may not be tolerating manpower issues, component makers are having trouble.
“There is a clear shortage of trained manpower in the manufacturing sector,” says Gulati. Since 2007, TKM has been playing its part in rectifying the situation by running a three-year residential vocational training program at its manufacturing site in Bidadi outside, he added. Bangalore. “We have trained around 80,000 youth and some of them work at our plant, others are employed by automotive companies across India.” In addition, the shortage of some critical components such as semiconductors adversely affected the cars.
The new Innova features hybrid and the demand for these powertrains is gaining popularity in the market. The Toyota Hybrid and its Maruti-Suzuki sibling, the Grand Vitara, are also selling hybrids in large numbers. “In markets like the National Capital Region (NCR) where buying a diesel vehicle is pointless for many due to the ten-year rule, hybrid vehicles offer the same high level of fuel efficiency as diesel, while not costing as much. And more,” says Gulati.
Overall, after driving both the Hyderabadi and the Grand Vitara for about a month in and around Delhi-NCR, with the Honda City e:HEV, which is also a hybrid, one simple fact becomes clear. Despite being compact sports utility vehicles, the Hyder and the Grand Vitara easily deliver a top speed of over 23 kmpl. On online motoring forums, hybrid owners compete with each other in claiming to get the most out of every liter of petrol. And the better the fuel economy, the lower the emissions. Most average buyers are claiming around 25 kmpl, which is more than double that of a regular petrol vehicle.
Emphasizing the efficiency of hybrids, a technology that Toyota popularized with the Prius two decades ago, Gulati linked it to emissions, and said the government should focus on overall emissions on motor vehicles instead of pushing for a technology solution. The tax should be levied on the basis. one more. Toyota, for example, has been slow to move towards full battery-electric vehicles and the carmaker has a few vehicles in the pipeline, perhaps for India as well. Gulati, however, talks about the geopolitical risks of battery-electric vehicles: “India wants to reduce dependence on oil imports, which is reasonable, but we must also carefully consider the electric vehicle supply chain.”
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In fact, he has high hopes for hydrogen as a fuel for future vehicles, particularly the hydrogen internal combustion engine (Hydrogen-ICE). According to him, this would be a technological advancement from current ICE vehicles, although major modifications to the engine and fuel-system would be required. “The push for green hydrogen by the Indian government is extremely positive, and hopefully can go a long way towards the ultimate goal of reducing emissions and reducing oil imports.”
As of now, Gulati is still tending to friends’ requests for early delivery for the Innova Highcross.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Thoughts are personal.
(Editing by Anurag Choubey)