Backed By Maruti’s Strong Presence, Toyota Leaps Onto Top Five Position
India is now Toyota’s fourth-largest market, thanks in large part to rebranded Suzuki automobiles. India is now Toyota’s third-largest market outside of Japan after sales there than doubled in 2024, overtaking sales in other important markets.India became Toyota’s fourth-largest market last year, moving up a number of slots to the top since the Japanese company first arrived in the nation in 1997.
Product development from Suzuki that was rebranded for Toyota was a major factor in this expansion.
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In the Indian market, Toyota Kirloskar rose from 10th place at the end of 2022 to 4th place by the end of 2024. The company’s sales almost doubled to 300,000 units at this time, surpassing important markets including Australia, Canada, Thailand, and Indonesia. Toyota today has a larger market in India than any other European country, including the UK.
In 2024, Toyota’s top three markets were the US, China, and Japan, in that order. India is currently Toyota’s third-largest market outside of its home market of Japan.India continues to be Suzuki’s largest global market, but it is currently Hyundai’s third-largest market. It is also one of Kia’s top five. Nonetheless, non-traditional Toyota models accounted for a sizable amount of Toyota’s expansion in India. Maruti Suzuki manufactured about 96,600 units in 2024, or about one-third of its total volumes. These were rebranded Suzuki cars that were offered for sale under the Toyota name.
The Grand Vitara is now marketed as the Toyota Hyryder, the Ertiga as the Toyota Rumion, the Maruti Fronx as the Toyota Taisor, and the Maruti Baleno as the Toyota Glanza. Toyota’s most popular models, the Innova Hycross, Innova Crysta, and Fortuner, account for the remaining volumes in India.
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With a 26% year-over-year volume rise, Toyota finished FY24 as the fifth-largest automobile manufacturer in India, much exceeding the 2% growth of the passenger vehicle market as a whole.Cross-branding and Toyota’s dependence on Suzuki are expected to persist this year as well. Toyota will also have access to Maruti Suzuki’s next electric vehicle, the eVitara. Both businesses will now officially enter the electric vehicle market.
The success of Suzuki and Toyota’s cross-badging strategy has defied the previous pattern. Without much success, Nissan and Ashok Leyland, Renault and Mahindra, Volkswagen and Skoda, and Renault and Nissan all used similar tactics.
