Toyota C SUV project will not take place in India; Company drops plan

Toyota Kirloskar which is the Indian subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation has dropped the plan for C SUV project that was scheduled for 2026. The Toyota C SUV that was codenamed 340D for India has been taken off the charts. The company had decided to expand the capacity of the Bidadi, Bengaluru, with a third plant and a planned investment of USD 400 million.

According to the sources, the project codenamed 340 D was expected to start production in June 2026. It has a potential annual volume of 75,000 units but could not meet technical commercial viability and so the company had to scrap the plan. The car had a potential to contribute from India up to 50 percent. However, the company scraped the plan as the global demand landscape was changing, said industry insider reports.

The investment plan for the new plant is still on and the company is currently looking at an alternative for the C SUV. The car was expected to be based on the global Corolla platform. The alternative of the C SUV is expected to be finalized in the next six to eight months.

Third manufacturing facility of the Toyota is expected to create 2000 new jobs and will be able to produce over 1,00,000 units a year. This would have taken the overall production capacity of Toyota up to more than 4 lakh units.

When it comes to sales, Toyota Kirloskar recorded its highest sales in 2023 and was looking for great sales in 2024. On the other hand, the company faced recent challenge in the form of global vehicle certification issue. This has forced the company to halt shipments of models like Innova Crysta, Fortuner, and Hilux across the world.