Toyota Hopes to Double Its Sales in India by 2013

India is one of the world’s fastest growing car markets, one that every manufacturer seems to want to take a ‘slice’ of. So it comes as no surprise that Toyota is expecting its sales to almost double next year as it introduces new models that are relevant for Indian customers.

According to a Reuters report quoted by Gasgoo, the Japanese manufacturer announced today it is expecting to sell 73,000 vehicles in India this year. The company is pinning its success on the newly launched Etios hatchback, which marks Toyota’s entry into the Indian mass market.

Toyota Kirloska, a joint venture between Toyota and India's Kirloskar group, announced it will invest INR5 billion ($110 million) by 2013 in India to increase local production of its Etios sedan, which launched on Wednesday. Using the new manufacturing facilities that were created, the company will build 90 percent of the parts needed in India.

Next year the Japanese giant is hoping to sell 70,000 Etios sedans and hatches, as it enters the highly competitive passenger car industry in Asia's third-largest economy. A number of other global carmakers in India, such as Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Ford and General Motors, are lining up new models and boosting investment in the country, responding to brisk demand from a burgeoning middle class in Asia's third-largest economy.

The passenger vehicle category grew 33.72 percent between April and October, according to the Society of India Automobile Manufacturers. Toyota is hoping to take a big part in this emerging markets with its current premium models, the Innova and Corolla Altis.