Urban Cruiser bolsters Toyota performance in October, best month since lockdown

Toyota Kirloskar Motor on Sunday announced it had sold 12,373 units in the month of October, continuing the recovery process since the first phase of national lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic was announced back in March. With the launch of Urban Cruiser recently and backed by an uptick in demand in the ongoing festive period, the company informed that it had registered a growth of 52% last month vis-a-vis September. This, however, was also a 1.87 per cent decline in total sales in a year-on-year period or when figures from October of 2019 and 2020 are compared.

While the first several months of 2020 have been challenging for the entire automotive industry in India, Toyota has been hit hard especially with national and local lockdowns, positive Covid-19 cases at its plant and other factors. The company, however, has still managed to improve its showing with each passing month since lockdown restrictions began to be eased. The recent launch of Urban Cruiser may have acted as a catalyst in this regard. "The month of October marks an important milestone for us as we began deliveries of the recently launched Urban Cruiser to our customers across the country," said Naveen Soni, Senior Vice President at TKM. "Urban Cruiser has made a very promising start and we are hopeful that with the Urban Cruiser, we will be able to cater to the dynamic needs of our customers in that particular segment."

Soni also underlined the significance of overall performance in October in particular. "The month of October has been our best month so far since March 2020. The festive season has proved to be bullish as we witness demand surging, month on month. This has been true of our retails too as order flow has been smooth, from the very beginning," he said, adding that wholesale figures rising by close to 50% every month is a great sign.