By Toyota was developing a new C-segment SUV for the Indian market which is codenamed 340 D and it was expected to be introduced in the market sometime next year. According to new reports, Toyota has cancelled the C-Segment SUV project as the did not meet the technical commercial viability. Even though the model is developed in India, the Japanese manufacturer was also looking at the export market as the overall contribution will be 50:50 including the domestic sector. The potential annual volume was around 75,000 units.
One of the reasons for the project to be cancelled is because of the changing demand of the customers globally but the exact reason is not yet revealed as Toyota did not comment on this project when asked about it. The SUV segment is important for the growth of the company and now they are looking at alternative options. Some reports indicate that the Japanese manufacturer is considering a new product which is going to be based on the global Corolla platform as it can be flexible to accommodate bigger models.
Even though globally Toyota has an SUV in this segment localising the product for India will be expensive which could be the reason to develop the product right here. The decision is expected to be made in the next six months. Toyota already announced its plans to add a third plant as currently, the two existing manufacturing units are operating at 90 per cent capacity. The new C-segment SUV was expected to be built on the new plant but the timeline will be changed depending on the upcoming product.
