Auto major Toyota Kirloskar Motor has announced that it has started three-shift operations at its Bidadi plant in Karnataka starting May. This the company says is to meet the evolving market needs and the rising demand for its existing products and its new launches. According to a PTI report, the company has invested Rs 90 crore towards the expansion.
The Bidadi plant has the capacity to produce 3.10 lakh vehicles per annum, with the third shift, the company will increase its production output by around 30 percent. This translates to an addition of 30,000 units per annum from the current production of around 1 lakh units per annum.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor says the announcement also means that it will generate additional employment of close to 25 percent including that of increased intake from Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI), which is the company’s existing skill technical education facility at its Bidadi plant.
Last year, TKM also undertook a major expansion of TTTI with capacity going up from 200 to 1,200 students (academically, batch-wise). At present, the car maker has a 6,000-member strong team, including production and non-production staff.
Sudeep Dalvi, SVP & Chief Communication Officer, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said “As we are optimistic about the market, our ‘customer first’ philosophy will continue to manifest across all our business decisions – one of which is the start of the third shift operation which is a testimony to the overwhelming response received by our offerings thus enabling us to meet the delivery commitments to our customers.”
Currently, the Bidadi plant produces models such as – Innova Hycross, Innova Crysta, Fortuner and Legender. It also assembles Camry Hybrid and Hilux at the plant.