Toyota's recent alliance with Suzuki, which will see Suzuki and Maruti help the Japanese company delve into the small car market in India. "Suzuki are the masters of small cars in the Indian market," according to Hiroyuki Fukui, Chairman of Toyota-Kirloskar Motor, "and we the students have a lot to learn from them." Though plans aren’t set in stone yet, the company’s will share platforms, engines and, most importantly, suppliers. So, India will get platforms and components from Daihatsu in India, they will be under the Toyota brand name.
Daihatsu, for the time being, will turn its attention to the Indonesian and Malaysian markets where it has a good presence. The Toyota-Suzuki alliance, however, is unlikely to be like the Renault-Nissan one. Maruti and Toyota may even avoid going head to head like Skoda and VW do, and Toyota will also setup a dedicated R&D centre in India that will focus on small cars. Its design studio will also be upgraded. But, just how much Suzuki and Maruti will help Toyota remains to be seen.
