Toyota forms Indian venture

Toyota forms Indian venture

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. said yesterday it had reached agreement with India's Kirloskar Group to establish a production and sales joint venture in India.

Toyota said in a statement an official proposal for the joint venture, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd. would be submitted to the Indian government.

The agreement was reached after a feasibility study undertaken by Japan's leading auto maker and the major Indian engineering conglomerate in 1996, Toyota said.

"Plans call for the company to be set up once government approval is received, and for production of a family-type multi- purpose vehicle designed for the Indian market to begin at the end of 1999," it said.

Toyota Kirloskar would have total investment of $170 million, with planned production of 50,000 units a year.

The two companies plan to build a factory near the southern Indian city of Bangalore, where Kirloskar is based.