Toyota MD's primary task in India: Win more Etios customers

Recently appointed MD of Toyota Kirloskar Motor India, Naomi Ishii, is aware of the rapidly growing compact SUV space but is also wary of the market fluctuations

Q: Tell us about yourself. You’ve been here for a few months now… What’s your perception of the Indian market?
Ishii: I was in charge of the mid-to-long-term corporate and business plans on a global basis for Toyota in Japan. When I was doing that I was asked to study and come up with predictions globally from 2017 to 2025. So, my responsibility was to anticipate the future and get the top management consensus on the resources. In the discussion that took place in Japan, India was an obvious market for the long term future. A big market [but] the speed to get here was a bit less compared to our expectations. But the belief does not change. Toyota is a company which doesn’t look at short-term change but at long-term returns because we want to be sustainable. If we find that it is not there, we do not invest. From that perspective, the long-term future of the Indian market is bright. But we have to challenge 2014 in 2015. I think we have hit the bottom. In the end of this year, after elections, we are going to slowly pick up and next year onward, we will start increasing.

[caption id=“attachment_75414” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Recently appointed MD of Toyota Kirloskar Motor India, Naomi Ishii, is aware of the rapidly growing compact SUV space but is also wary of the market fluctuations. Photo: Amit Varma/Forbes India[/caption]

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Q: Toyota has been in India for 15 years now. How do you assess the company’s performance?
Ishii: 1999 was the first phase when we launched the business. 2010 was the second phase where we expanded with the Etios. The third phase, we wanted to have now… which means we wanted to enjoy the big volumes of Etios, keeping the full capacity active; but it has not happened yet. So my first task is to somehow reach the expected volume which means winning more Etios customers. In order to do that, I want to do many activities.

Q: How did you prepare for the India assignment?
Ishii: Intentionally, I wanted to bring innocence to the Indian market. Last year the speed of growth of the Indian market was very low [compared to] our expectations, and also our business is not at a satisfactory level. Even sitting outside India, there was a lot of noise coming to my ears. But I decided not to hear. Without seeing it myself, how could I believe everybody? Once I came here, if I found any opportunity I wanted to take that. So, I am enjoying the whole experience.

Q: Have you had the time to travel yet?
Ishii: Private travel has not yet happened. I have been travelling on business.

Q: Do you see an opportunity in the compact SUV space which has been growing quite well? Lot of other manufacturers have seen that opportunity in India except Toyota.
Ishii: As you know we are not in the sub-4-metre segment which is huge but competitors are in it. Well, I wish I could have [entered the space] as a new MD of course. But whether the market trend is wrong, I don’t know… because it seems the Indian market is always fluctuating, not only [in terms of] volumes but [also] the duration of new vehicles. This is very small compared to other regions. But before I start shouting that ‘I want this and this model’, I want to get more customers for current models like Etios, Liva and Etios Cross. I want the customer to feel and touch our vehicles and see the Toyota service. That is what I want to do for Toyota with a different approach from [that of the] competitors.