Japanese auto majors, Nissan and Toyota, have deferred the launch of their luxury brands, Infinity and Lexus in the Indian auto market. Both the companies expressed their desire last year to launch the Infinity range in March, 2012 and Lexus in November this year.
Reportedly, the auto majors are apprehensive about how the Indian market will respond to the new expensive brands when the German trios, BMW, Mercedes and Audi, have such a strong presence in the country. It is believed that the Japanese auto majors are fearing that Indian buyers will find their Infinity and Lexus models to be expensive when compared with the products of German auto giants, owing to the India's free trade pact with the European Union (EU).
Regarding the deferred launch, Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM), commented, “Currently we are reviewing our business model and no decision has been taken on the model range to be launched. There could be some direction by the end of the year.”
Expressing his views on the decision of Japanese car maker, VG Ramakrishnan, Senior Director, automotive practice at Frost & Sullivan, quoted, “Japanese car makers maybe holding back their launch plans owing to the decision on the free trade agreement with the EU. There needs to be clarity so that decision on volumes, investments can be made.”
According to industry experts, Nissan and Toyota are analysing the current market angle on many factors, including sluggish growth, fluctuations in the value of Indian currency and inflated import duty. Unpredictable Indian trade relations with the European Union has also influenced the Indian policies framed by the big players of the Japanese auto market.
