Toyota inaugurates new diesel engine plant in India

Toyota Industries Engine, a joint venture between Toyota Motors and Kirloskar Motor Systems, has inaugurated a new engine production plant at Jigani, Bengaluru. The new engine plant will be manufacturing the company’s new Global Division (GD) diesel engines with annual production capacity of 108,000 engines. Toyota’s Jigani plant is the firm’s third GD engine plant globally after Japan and Thailand.

Spread across an area of 22 acres, the new facility is built with an initial investment of Rs 1,100 crore. The plant will be producing 1GD-FTV 2.8-litre and 2GD-FTV 2.4-litre diesel engines, complying with BS 4/ Euro 4 emission norms. Currently, these engines power the manual and automatic versions of the recently launched Innova Crysta. As per the company, these engines have the provisions to be upgraded to BS 5 and BS 6 norms in the future.

Commenting on the development, Vikram S Kirloskar, vice chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Director, Toyota Industries Engine India, said, “The introduction of GD series engines not only equips superior technology but also meet the new fuel-efficiency policies mandate in the country. We realise diesel engine technology will remain an integral part of every automaker with strict fuel-efficiency norms being implemented in India, therefore this engine project will strengthen our diesel business in the country marking Toyota’s first diesel manufacturing plant in India.”

Although Toyota has opened a brand new diesel engine facility in India, sales of its best-selling models like Innova Crysta and Fortuner are still being halted in the Delhi-NCR region. Despite that, the Toyota Innova Crysta has managed to make it into the top 10 selling cars in May 2016. Toyota sold 7,259 units of the Innova Crysta last month, which meant it outsold other popular cars like the Maruti Suzuki Brezza and Hyundai Creta.