Toyota suspends operations at Indian car-making subsidiary

NAGOYA, July 6 Kyodo -
Toyota Motor Corp. suspended operations Monday at southern Indian subsidiary
Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Ltd. due to a one-day general strike in the
country before resuming Tuesday morning, Toyota officials said.
Toyota instructed employees at the subsidiary based in the suburbs of Bangalore
to remain at home to ensure their safety as it was warned beforehand that the
strike would be organized nationwide, they said.
Workers in various Indian districts went on strike or took to the streets,
demanding that the Indian government annul a decision to hike the prices of a
range of goods including gasoline.
Some of the protesters became unruly but Toyota's management in Japan has not
received any information so far that its factory was damaged, they said.
The Bangalore factory, where the automaker produces models such as the Corolla
sedan, has a workforce of 3,800 and is Toyota's sole manufacturing base in
India.
Meanwhile, the operations of other automakers in India such as Honda Motor Co.
and Suzuki Motor Corp. remained unaffected, their officials said.
Toyota announced Tuesday that it is aiming to make India a crucial production
base not only for cars but also auto parts by using its local auto parts
manufacturing firm, Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts Private Ltd., to produce
engines and transmissions for the Etios, a new compact passenger car developed
for India's market.
Toyota is boosting local production as part of efforts to expand its presence
in emerging economies, which are regarded as a crucial area for growth.
By investing about 9 billion yen on local production, Toyota said it plans to
produce around 100,000 engines annually from the fall of 2012 and roughly
240,000 transmissions every year from early 2013. Production of the auto parts
will generate 500 new jobs, the automaker said.
Toyota is set to begin production of the Etios later this year.
==Kyodo