Toyota Kirloskar Motors India is now expanding its network to the rural parts of India in efforts to boost up the sales of its entry level hatchback and sedan models, the Etios Liva and the Etios. The company had launched a campaign called “Go Rural” in the last quarter of 2011 wherein they conducted a pilot study in the eastern region to understand the demand in those parts of the country for Toyota vehicles. Cars were displayed Durgapur, West Bengal and the company received an overwhelming response.
Mr Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor told that that was just a beginning of the company’s ‘Go Rural’ drive. They had their dealers try out something similar in other parts of the country where cars were showcased on select days in a month and were amazed to see that brand Toyota had so much goodwill despite their relatively negligible presence.
By February, the “Go Rural” campaign had become more intense with a growing list of interested customers. Toyota also saw a boost in demand with 160 bookings last month and has targeted at least 500 more each month between now and end-July. An interesting revelation was made by Toyota that the rural demand also included cars like the Innova and the Fortuner. However, Toyota is keeping it only to the Etios and the Etios Liva. Toyota will also have in place 25 dealerships in these smaller centres by the end of this year, going up to twice as much in 2013.
