Toyota’s trailblazing strategy”_ Infusing advanced green technologies and sustainability in product development
Good day, everyone.
And welcome to this exclusive podcast by S&P Global Mobility.
Today, we'll delve into the intricacies of the Indian automotive landscape.
And Toyota's dynamic role within it.
I am Puneet Gupta, your host for today, and we have the distinct honor of speaking with Mr.
Vikram Gulati, the country head of Toyota India and EVP, Corporate Affairs and Governance.
Mr.
Gulati is one of the titans of the industry and has been instrumental in shaping the Toyota's trajectory in India, which is one of the most complex.
But promising car markets in the world today, over the next few minutes, we'll gain insights from Mr.
Gulati on Toyota's strategic evolution in India, discuss the pivotal role that hybrid and electric vehicles will play in India market as we transition.
towards the sustainable mobility.
It will be followed by a fireside chat with him.
So without further ado, Mr.
Gulati, welcome to the S& P Global Mobility Podcast and thanks for taking out time for this episode.
Thank you for having me.
It's a real pleasure.
Thank you so much.
So let's move on.
So Mr.
Gulati, Toyota has been one of the key players on India for more than two decades now.
So can you share your perspective on evolution of Toyota in India market?
Maybe you can touch on two, three major milestones and how Toyota has tailored its global expertise to cater to the Indian consumer.
Well, uh, it's we celebrated our silver jubilee a couple of years back.
Now it's almost 27 years we've been in this market.
And throughout the journey, we focused on the fundamentals in terms of delivering the best quality quality.
As well as products which are durable and reliable to the Indian customers so as to, you know, work towards getting customer delight.
And that's been our focus.
For this, we've always been dedicated to two or three very important values which we think are non compromisable.
That includes, uh, building the foundation by, uh, building a very globally competitive Manufacturing ecosystem that involves handholding and developing local supplier base, which also includes a lot of focus not only on the processes, but also on skilling of the manpower, not only Toyota's, but also that of our suppliers.
The other fundamental value really has been a continued focus on sustainability in a holistic manner.
Globally, Toyota took, uh, In six environment challenges in 2015, which includes a life cycle zero carbon emissions by 2050 vehicular emissions net zero by 2050, as well as manufacturing of vehicles, uh, by, uh, manufacturing of vehicles by 2035 as net zero.
In addition, we have three other challenges which revolve around being net net.
Positive and contributing back to society.
This includes the working towards recyclability, working towards minimizing use of scarce resources like water and working with the community to build a society that is in harmony with So this has shaped our journey, and I'm glad to say, uh, you know, we've built a strong foundation now.
Uh, recently in the last two years we've announced, uh, and are in the process of implementing investments worth over 8, 000 crore rupees, which is around a billion dollars, approximately.
Of this, around 4, 200,
Invested.
Uh, this includes investments towards advanced clean technology part ecosystem manufacturing in the country as well as now we are in the process of implementing the balance, which includes the third plant that is coming up in with the we've also recently announced the, uh, the Greenfield project in Maharashtra.
So, uh, in all fairness, we've worked towards not only, uh, Looking at how to build a competitive ecosystem, deliver the best products and services to our consumers, but also at the same time giving, uh, giving back to society.
And that's been another key focus area for us, where we've gone beyond CSR to look at how our business processes can be meaningful for society in terms of, you know, delivering value.
Right.
Uh, so, uh, thank you very much, sir.
It's great to hear about Toyota's remarkable journey and how Toyota is taking on the ecosystem in India.
Uh, everybody, uh, you know, in automotive fraternity together, uh, to move towards the net zero and the sustainable goal.
Uh, so let's move to the next one.
Uh, so Toyota has been a global leader.
in hybrid technology.
And recently we have seen an increasing push towards hybrids in India.
So the question is, you know, uh, how do you view the role of hybrid vehicles in India, India's journey towards greener mobility?
And how do you see hybrid as a transitional solution, or do you see as a long term solution, uh, you know, for India market?
So when I'm saying long term, it's more around 2030, 2030, 2040.
Well, uh, if you look at it, the whole The issue off transition.
The automotive sector is, uh, anchored around the energy transition and the need to move towards cleaner mobility, meaning reducing carbon footprints, which means moving away from fossil fuels as much as you can.
Minimizing their use.
We also have to see that India is a very unique market.
It has its own mix of energy right now, which is Yeah.
predominantly fossil fuel, but rapidly shifting towards renewable.
We see that Indian market has its own, uh, its own set of, uh, uh, consumer likes and dislikes, demographics, per capita income.
Infrastructure is developing rapidly, but in, for Some areas it is still to come up and looking at all of that and factoring in the aspect that India is not only a huge market for automobiles, particularly passenger vehicles, but is amongst the most rapidly, uh, Developing markets in terms of growth.
Uh, what we see is right now we need all technologies to be there to be deployed at scale and at right now to be able to achieve these larger objectives of energy security and mitigating climate change.
Carbon emissions.
Uh, just a few statistics, which I'm sure the audience would be well aware.
Last year, Indian automotive market, passenger vehicle market basically stood at around 4.
This included SUVs, etc.
Of that, 2.
So in real terms, if you look at it, 95 percent of the market remains unaddressed.
Going forward, uh, what we see is 15 year life, given the 15 year lifetime of a vehicle, the vehicles that are sold today are going to be EVs.
on the roads, uh, for fairly long duration of time.
Plus the fact that we're growing rapidly would see something like six to 7 million new car sales by 2030.
And even if we were to achieve the aspiration goal of 30 percent by 2030, For passenger vehicles, in terms of becoming EVs, a vast majority of 70%, which is anywhere between 4.
Therefore, looking at all of this, it's no surprise that IEA, in their recent energy forecast a few years back, basically said that the energy requirement for passenger cars in India It's going to quadruple from now till 2030.
So, uh, what we believe is going forward hybrid technology, in addition to other electrified vehicle technologies, as well as alternate fuels are going to play a vital role in our journey as a nation towards energy security and carbon mitigation.
So thanks for your honest view on, uh, hybrids, sir.
But on the other side, uh, you know, if we see EVs are gaining momentum globally, uh, you know, so last year globally, if we see EVs were around 12%, so no hybrids, uh, you know, PHEVs and full hybrids were also around 12%.
But now, you know, if we see the Indian government, you know, is taking steps, you know, in, um, pushing EVs.
So here I would like to ask is like, what is the Toyota stance, you know, on adoption of electric vehicles in India, especially given, you know, we have, you know, infrastructural challenges, we have cost challenges, you know, the customer is price sensitive.
And how do you really see the timeline of, uh, You know, EV adoption, you know, in the country, uh, by 2030 or 2035, 40 times, like.
At the outset, I would like to emphasize the fact that, you know, the common enemy that we have, which we are fighting against is carbon emissions, which is fossil fuel, uh, elimination.
That, that's the goal.
We must never lose sight of that.
Having said that electric vehicles, uh, have a big role to play going ahead.
Now, simply because of the fact that they would be able to tap into electricity generated by renewable energy, which would invariably make them the cleanest option going forward.
It's a journey that, uh, is now well, uh, started.
Uh, there has been a lot of emphasis from the government in developing the ecosystem as well as incentivizing consumers to invest.
Adopt electric vehicles.
Uh, the emphasis on renewable energy also is playing a big part of the government going ahead.
It transcends the focus towards renewable energy on the electricity side to also focus on green energy options on Alternate fuel side, ethanol and all.
So going forward, electric mobility will definitely have a good, big role to play in terms of the energy transition as well as mitigating carbon emissions.
But we must remember, this is a journey which will be at a different pace for different Vehicle segments primarily given the fact that the, uh, hurdles of the bottlenecks that we all well aware of, uh, towards electric vehicle adoption are very different for different vehicle segments.
They're much less for three wheelers and buses, followed by two wheelers and passenger vehicle is a hard to do segment in my opinion, primarily because of the fact that all the bottlenecks that we face today.
All the challenges towards EV adoption are, uh, heightened when it comes to passenger vehicles.
Uh, while many, uh, agencies have their own forecast towards, uh, BEV, uh, adoption by 2030 targets, I, I think recently what I would depend on is the recent Government documents, which have been talking about on an average fleet versus private vehicle average of around something like 12 percent adoption of BVs in passenger cars by 2030, of course, our aspiration as a country remains a 30%.
But we must also keep in mind what the government is focusing on, what we as industry must also, uh, you know, Keep at the top of our priorities is the need for local value addition.
If that doesn't happen, we're really not addressing a very big national objective of import substitution because it will just mean shifting from import of energy to import of parts.
I think a lot of work is happening there also, both from the government and the industry.
But having a We talked about the projection for 2030.
I feel going forward, given the fact that the growth is going to be so huge in terms of the passenger new vehicle sales, going forward, not only electric, but other technologies, including all XCVs, as well as alternate fuels will have a huge role to play.
Right.
Uh, fantastic, sir.
So, uh, so just to summarize, so obviously you're talking about, you know, hybrids and alternative fuels as a better bridge, uh, you know, for country sustainable future, uh, for at least, at least till 2030.
Uh, so, so just here, you know, just tweaking on, uh, you know, so Toyota has been, you know, we have always seen a strong advocate of sustainability and, uh, you know, reducing emissions.
Can you also touch on some, another initiative because, you know, somewhere around fuel cells, you know, we have been hearing a lot about, uh, you know, our ministers, you know, driving Toyota cars.
So, so would you also like that?
How do you see, uh, you know, Toyota contributing to India, you know, in terms of a greener future, specifically from, uh, other initiatives.
Absolutely.
So, uh, like I said, we had set ourselves in 2015 six global environment challenges, three of which are around net zero carbon by 2050.
Now, as far as manufacturing is concerned, 100 percent of our renewable energy is, uh, our electricity requirements is based on renewable energy.
We are working, uh, Hard to ensure that you know, we become net zero carbon manufacturing plant very soon.
The global target, of course, is 2035.
We've done, I think, remarkable.
We've seen remarkable progress in this particular area.
We're also working with our entire value chain, which includes the suppliers and dealers to for them to also work towards the goal off net zero operations because we believe that the Environment and sustainability goes well beyond the tailpipe.
It has to be well to view when it comes to vehicles, and it has to be life cycle also going forward.
In addition, we've been looking at various technologies in a holistic manner.
Uh, which are best suited for India's unique energy mix as it exists today and likely to evolve in the near future up to 2030 and beyond and also looking at how infrastructure is coming up and most importantly, from a point of view of consumer adoption.
So we've seen our activities on technology front, not only look at, you know, working towards developing the ecosystem for EV parts manufacturing.
Like I mentioned, we've set up the first manufacturing plant for eDrive, which is a key component of the electric powertrain in India.
The first one out of sight of Japan in Asia.
Uh, with a capacity of 135, 000 units per year and now that's not only delivering to us, but is also exporting back to Japan for, and it can be used for any of the electrified vehicles.
Uh, we're also running pilots with government agencies.
Uh, a pilot that's been done for quite some time is the pilot on hydrogen vehicles with Mirai.
The idea is to understand the, uh, Indian, uh, driving conditions and how the vehicle behaves in the country, which will contribute towards making the system much more efficient and, uh, in the, and, and better for the Indian context.
This goes beyond cars because fuel cell we see as something that's going to be applicable not only for.
Transportation sector, but going beyond towards this, we've already supplied a fuel cell to a show Cleveland for that, uh, truck.
We're also, uh, working towards seeing how the fuel cell, which is common, um, technology between vehicles, trucks, buses can also be, uh, used for stationary applications in the, in the country.
Most recently, we've worked towards, uh, seeing how, uh, we can get, uh, You know, adoption for, uh, flexi fuel vehicles.
That is vehicles which are capable of using ethanol anywhere from 0 percent to 100%, which gives immense amount of flexibility to the all stakeholders, including consumers.
Uh, the government as well as the automakers.
One key challenge in flexi fuel vehicle adoption globally is the loss of fuel efficiency associated with ethanol.
We have tried to look at this issue from the prism of our experience in Brazil, and therefore we had done a launch of a prototype for an electrified flex fuel vehicle.
That's a flex fuel vehicle, which is a strong hybrid in the country with BS six compliant, um, technology.
Sometime back, we're running it right now for, for gathering data for developing it.
Now this promises to be a You know, huge opportunity for the country because as per a study done by Indian Institute of Science, on a well to wheel basis, the electrified flex fuel vehicle running on 100 percent ethanol has the lowest carbon emissions for any technology.
It's 19 grams to a kilometer.
Versus 100 plus grams for battery electric today on a well to view basis simply because our electricity is predominantly cold today.
This technology will also enable higher utilization of ethanol generated not only from sugarcane, uh, feeds other feedstocks like, uh, you know, maize, uh, corn, uh, broken rice, et cetera, but also Potentially from waste and government is working towards trying to convert Parali, which is rice straw, which gets burnt annually and creates, creates havoc in the northern part of the country.
And using that, uh, you know, the IOCL's investment in Panipat and Batinda to get it to be converted to ethanol.
So this, to my mind, could be a.
You know, a truly self reliant indigenous energy source, which gives multiple benefits and delivering the the value proposition to farmers.
So those are some of the areas that we worked at.
There are many more, but given time constraint, I like to stick my answer to these.
Right.
Thank you so much, sir, for giving a holistic view, uh, you know, uh, and, uh, how Toyota is supporting India in terms of as India moved towards the Vixit Bharat Goal 2047.
So, sir, uh, so the last question, you know, is, um, like as we move towards 2025, as we enter new year and currently, you know, we are hearing a lot of noise around demand, you know, discount really popping up.
So, uh, any guesstimates you would like to say about the Indian car market You know, for 2025, like, do you think it will be a negative growth less than zero, zero to 5 percent growth or more than, uh, you know, 5 percent for calendar year?
Well, we've, uh, at Toyota, we've seen, uh, you know, uh, last, uh, last fiscal year.
A 43 percent growth year on year.
The calendar till now still continues to be around 40 percent plus in terms of growth.
So as far as we are concerned, we see the momentum is good.
Our order book is very healthy.
We're seeing good orders coming in.
There is good acceptance for the products that we have.
So from our perspective, we see the growth momentum carrying on.
But I do understand and I do appreciate your point of view in terms of, uh, the forecast, looking at the larger markets, particularly around certain segments, small vehicles, etc.
There are signs of slowing down.
But, uh, as far as the market remains till date on a cumulative basis, we are still on a positive side, um, vis a vis not only last year, but I think, uh, compared to even the highest in the recent times, which was around 2018, 19.
Uh, we're still, we, we are optimistic about the market growth.
Uh, it, it may be not as high as, It's been seen in the recent past, and this could be because of the factors off, you know, higher base.
It could also be because of the fact that not all passenger car segments are performing uniformly.
There is a wide variation, and, uh, we're still up on on the On the whole, we are quite optimistic.
Uh, perfect sir.
Thank you very much.
So let's move to the next part of our, uh, your podcast.
So, uh, we are going through a rapid fire questions, and so please feel free to skip any, you can just say skip.
So I think that's fine.
So I'll give you three choices against, uh, you know, uh, every, uh, question.
Uh, so, uh, so starting, uh, uh, so, so it's more of a fun, right?
So, so what's your favorite Toyota model, sir?
Innova High Cross Fortuner or high riding?
All of them.
Okay.
So a hybrid or electric?
Both Okay.
compliment at technology.
You're most, yeah.
Yeah.
So at technology, you are most excited about ai, uh, battery technology, hydrogen fuel cell, or autonomous drive.
Did you say AI in the first part part.
Excited ai.
Yeah.
So AI is artificial intelligence.
Yeah.
Then is battery technology.
Yeah, definitely.
Right.
So, uh, so the biggest challenge for EV industry in India, uh, so if you can just choose one, so infrastructure cost of the vehicle or the policymaking?
I think infrastructure.
So what motivates or excites you every day?
Is it the innovation or is it the leadership?
Or is it the challenges you face every day?
I think it's a mix.
I would say the challenges and the innovation both.
All right.
Perfect.
So the biggest opportunity for Toyota in India, is it the domestic growth?
Is it the electrification or is it the localization?
I think the growth, uh, overall growth is a huge opportunity.
India growth story, right?
So the one word, sir, that that defines Toyota philosophy.
So is it reliability or sustainability or quality?
That's a difficult one.
I would say sustainability.
Sustainability.
Perfect.
Uh, uh, so, uh, Mr.
Guidi, thank you so much for sharing your invaluable thoughts and for going through fireside chat and giving, giving your honest view.
Uh, so, uh, so now you know, as India obviously continues to push towards sustainable and low emission technologies, uh, so Toyota leadership in hybrid and electric solutions will undoubtedly play a critical role as, um.
Uh, as, uh, you know, uh, we discussed in this podcast, so we really look forward, uh, to, uh, it, uh, uh, you know, and see that how, how Toyota unfolds its strategy going forward.
Uh, so thank you again, uh, for your time, uh, Mr.
Gulati, and to all our listeners, uh, for joining us.
Until next time, stay tuned for more conversation that shapes the future of mobility in India.
Thank you and happy Diwali to all.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Good day, everyone.
And welcome to this exclusive podcast by S&P Global Mobility.
Today, we'll delve into the intricacies of the Indian automotive landscape.
And Toyota's dynamic role within it.
I am Puneet Gupta, your host for today, and we have the distinct honor of speaking with Mr.
Vikram Gulati, the country head of Toyota India and EVP, Corporate Affairs and Governance.
Mr.
Gulati is one of the titans of the industry and has been instrumental in shaping the Toyota's trajectory in India, which is one of the most complex.
But promising car markets in the world today, over the next few minutes, we'll gain insights from Mr.
Gulati on Toyota's strategic evolution in India, discuss the pivotal role that hybrid and electric vehicles will play in India market as we transition.
towards the sustainable mobility.
It will be followed by a fireside chat with him.
So without further ado, Mr.
Gulati, welcome to the S& P Global Mobility Podcast and thanks for taking out time for this episode.
Thank you for having me.
It's a real pleasure.
Thank you so much.
So let's move on.
So Mr.
Gulati, Toyota has been one of the key players on India for more than two decades now.
So can you share your perspective on evolution of Toyota in India market?
Maybe you can touch on two, three major milestones and how Toyota has tailored its global expertise to cater to the Indian consumer.
Well, uh, it's we celebrated our silver jubilee a couple of years back.
Now it's almost 27 years we've been in this market.
And throughout the journey, we focused on the fundamentals in terms of delivering the best quality quality.
As well as products which are durable and reliable to the Indian customers so as to, you know, work towards getting customer delight.
And that's been our focus.
For this, we've always been dedicated to two or three very important values which we think are non compromisable.
That includes, uh, building the foundation by, uh, building a very globally competitive Manufacturing ecosystem that involves handholding and developing local supplier base, which also includes a lot of focus not only on the processes, but also on skilling of the manpower, not only Toyota's, but also that of our suppliers.
The other fundamental value really has been a continued focus on sustainability in a holistic manner.
Globally, Toyota took, uh, In six environment challenges in 2015, which includes a life cycle zero carbon emissions by 2050 vehicular emissions net zero by 2050, as well as manufacturing of vehicles, uh, by, uh, manufacturing of vehicles by 2035 as net zero.
In addition, we have three other challenges which revolve around being net net.
Positive and contributing back to society.
This includes the working towards recyclability, working towards minimizing use of scarce resources like water and working with the community to build a society that is in harmony with So this has shaped our journey, and I'm glad to say, uh, you know, we've built a strong foundation now.
Uh, recently in the last two years we've announced, uh, and are in the process of implementing investments worth over 8, 000 crore rupees, which is around a billion dollars, approximately.
Of this, around 4, 200,
Invested.
Uh, this includes investments towards advanced clean technology part ecosystem manufacturing in the country as well as now we are in the process of implementing the balance, which includes the third plant that is coming up in with the we've also recently announced the, uh, the Greenfield project in Maharashtra.
So, uh, in all fairness, we've worked towards not only, uh, Looking at how to build a competitive ecosystem, deliver the best products and services to our consumers, but also at the same time giving, uh, giving back to society.
And that's been another key focus area for us, where we've gone beyond CSR to look at how our business processes can be meaningful for society in terms of, you know, delivering value.
Right.
Uh, so, uh, thank you very much, sir.
It's great to hear about Toyota's remarkable journey and how Toyota is taking on the ecosystem in India.
Uh, everybody, uh, you know, in automotive fraternity together, uh, to move towards the net zero and the sustainable goal.
Uh, so let's move to the next one.
Uh, so Toyota has been a global leader.
in hybrid technology.
And recently we have seen an increasing push towards hybrids in India.
So the question is, you know, uh, how do you view the role of hybrid vehicles in India, India's journey towards greener mobility?
And how do you see hybrid as a transitional solution, or do you see as a long term solution, uh, you know, for India market?
So when I'm saying long term, it's more around 2030, 2030, 2040.
Well, uh, if you look at it, the whole The issue off transition.
The automotive sector is, uh, anchored around the energy transition and the need to move towards cleaner mobility, meaning reducing carbon footprints, which means moving away from fossil fuels as much as you can.
Minimizing their use.
We also have to see that India is a very unique market.
It has its own mix of energy right now, which is Yeah.
predominantly fossil fuel, but rapidly shifting towards renewable.
We see that Indian market has its own, uh, its own set of, uh, uh, consumer likes and dislikes, demographics, per capita income.
Infrastructure is developing rapidly, but in, for Some areas it is still to come up and looking at all of that and factoring in the aspect that India is not only a huge market for automobiles, particularly passenger vehicles, but is amongst the most rapidly, uh, Developing markets in terms of growth.
Uh, what we see is right now we need all technologies to be there to be deployed at scale and at right now to be able to achieve these larger objectives of energy security and mitigating climate change.
Carbon emissions.
Uh, just a few statistics, which I'm sure the audience would be well aware.
Last year, Indian automotive market, passenger vehicle market basically stood at around 4.
This included SUVs, etc.
Of that, 2.
So in real terms, if you look at it, 95 percent of the market remains unaddressed.
Going forward, uh, what we see is 15 year life, given the 15 year lifetime of a vehicle, the vehicles that are sold today are going to be EVs.
on the roads, uh, for fairly long duration of time.
Plus the fact that we're growing rapidly would see something like six to 7 million new car sales by 2030.
And even if we were to achieve the aspiration goal of 30 percent by 2030, For passenger vehicles, in terms of becoming EVs, a vast majority of 70%, which is anywhere between 4.
Therefore, looking at all of this, it's no surprise that IEA, in their recent energy forecast a few years back, basically said that the energy requirement for passenger cars in India It's going to quadruple from now till 2030.
So, uh, what we believe is going forward hybrid technology, in addition to other electrified vehicle technologies, as well as alternate fuels are going to play a vital role in our journey as a nation towards energy security and carbon mitigation.
So thanks for your honest view on, uh, hybrids, sir.
But on the other side, uh, you know, if we see EVs are gaining momentum globally, uh, you know, so last year globally, if we see EVs were around 12%, so no hybrids, uh, you know, PHEVs and full hybrids were also around 12%.
But now, you know, if we see the Indian government, you know, is taking steps, you know, in, um, pushing EVs.
So here I would like to ask is like, what is the Toyota stance, you know, on adoption of electric vehicles in India, especially given, you know, we have, you know, infrastructural challenges, we have cost challenges, you know, the customer is price sensitive.
And how do you really see the timeline of, uh, You know, EV adoption, you know, in the country, uh, by 2030 or 2035, 40 times, like.
At the outset, I would like to emphasize the fact that, you know, the common enemy that we have, which we are fighting against is carbon emissions, which is fossil fuel, uh, elimination.
That, that's the goal.
We must never lose sight of that.
Having said that electric vehicles, uh, have a big role to play going ahead.
Now, simply because of the fact that they would be able to tap into electricity generated by renewable energy, which would invariably make them the cleanest option going forward.
It's a journey that, uh, is now well, uh, started.
Uh, there has been a lot of emphasis from the government in developing the ecosystem as well as incentivizing consumers to invest.
Adopt electric vehicles.
Uh, the emphasis on renewable energy also is playing a big part of the government going ahead.
It transcends the focus towards renewable energy on the electricity side to also focus on green energy options on Alternate fuel side, ethanol and all.
So going forward, electric mobility will definitely have a good, big role to play in terms of the energy transition as well as mitigating carbon emissions.
But we must remember, this is a journey which will be at a different pace for different Vehicle segments primarily given the fact that the, uh, hurdles of the bottlenecks that we all well aware of, uh, towards electric vehicle adoption are very different for different vehicle segments.
They're much less for three wheelers and buses, followed by two wheelers and passenger vehicle is a hard to do segment in my opinion, primarily because of the fact that all the bottlenecks that we face today.
All the challenges towards EV adoption are, uh, heightened when it comes to passenger vehicles.
Uh, while many, uh, agencies have their own forecast towards, uh, BEV, uh, adoption by 2030 targets, I, I think recently what I would depend on is the recent Government documents, which have been talking about on an average fleet versus private vehicle average of around something like 12 percent adoption of BVs in passenger cars by 2030, of course, our aspiration as a country remains a 30%.
But we must also keep in mind what the government is focusing on, what we as industry must also, uh, you know, Keep at the top of our priorities is the need for local value addition.
If that doesn't happen, we're really not addressing a very big national objective of import substitution because it will just mean shifting from import of energy to import of parts.
I think a lot of work is happening there also, both from the government and the industry.
But having a We talked about the projection for 2030.
I feel going forward, given the fact that the growth is going to be so huge in terms of the passenger new vehicle sales, going forward, not only electric, but other technologies, including all XCVs, as well as alternate fuels will have a huge role to play.
Right.
Uh, fantastic, sir.
So, uh, so just to summarize, so obviously you're talking about, you know, hybrids and alternative fuels as a better bridge, uh, you know, for country sustainable future, uh, for at least, at least till 2030.
Uh, so, so just here, you know, just tweaking on, uh, you know, so Toyota has been, you know, we have always seen a strong advocate of sustainability and, uh, you know, reducing emissions.
Can you also touch on some, another initiative because, you know, somewhere around fuel cells, you know, we have been hearing a lot about, uh, you know, our ministers, you know, driving Toyota cars.
So, so would you also like that?
How do you see, uh, you know, Toyota contributing to India, you know, in terms of a greener future, specifically from, uh, other initiatives.
Absolutely.
So, uh, like I said, we had set ourselves in 2015 six global environment challenges, three of which are around net zero carbon by 2050.
Now, as far as manufacturing is concerned, 100 percent of our renewable energy is, uh, our electricity requirements is based on renewable energy.
We are working, uh, Hard to ensure that you know, we become net zero carbon manufacturing plant very soon.
The global target, of course, is 2035.
We've done, I think, remarkable.
We've seen remarkable progress in this particular area.
We're also working with our entire value chain, which includes the suppliers and dealers to for them to also work towards the goal off net zero operations because we believe that the Environment and sustainability goes well beyond the tailpipe.
It has to be well to view when it comes to vehicles, and it has to be life cycle also going forward.
In addition, we've been looking at various technologies in a holistic manner.
Uh, which are best suited for India's unique energy mix as it exists today and likely to evolve in the near future up to 2030 and beyond and also looking at how infrastructure is coming up and most importantly, from a point of view of consumer adoption.
So we've seen our activities on technology front, not only look at, you know, working towards developing the ecosystem for EV parts manufacturing.
Like I mentioned, we've set up the first manufacturing plant for eDrive, which is a key component of the electric powertrain in India.
The first one out of sight of Japan in Asia.
Uh, with a capacity of 135, 000 units per year and now that's not only delivering to us, but is also exporting back to Japan for, and it can be used for any of the electrified vehicles.
Uh, we're also running pilots with government agencies.
Uh, a pilot that's been done for quite some time is the pilot on hydrogen vehicles with Mirai.
The idea is to understand the, uh, Indian, uh, driving conditions and how the vehicle behaves in the country, which will contribute towards making the system much more efficient and, uh, in the, and, and better for the Indian context.
This goes beyond cars because fuel cell we see as something that's going to be applicable not only for.
Transportation sector, but going beyond towards this, we've already supplied a fuel cell to a show Cleveland for that, uh, truck.
We're also, uh, working towards seeing how the fuel cell, which is common, um, technology between vehicles, trucks, buses can also be, uh, used for stationary applications in the, in the country.
Most recently, we've worked towards, uh, seeing how, uh, we can get, uh, You know, adoption for, uh, flexi fuel vehicles.
That is vehicles which are capable of using ethanol anywhere from 0 percent to 100%, which gives immense amount of flexibility to the all stakeholders, including consumers.
Uh, the government as well as the automakers.
One key challenge in flexi fuel vehicle adoption globally is the loss of fuel efficiency associated with ethanol.
We have tried to look at this issue from the prism of our experience in Brazil, and therefore we had done a launch of a prototype for an electrified flex fuel vehicle.
That's a flex fuel vehicle, which is a strong hybrid in the country with BS six compliant, um, technology.
Sometime back, we're running it right now for, for gathering data for developing it.
Now this promises to be a You know, huge opportunity for the country because as per a study done by Indian Institute of Science, on a well to wheel basis, the electrified flex fuel vehicle running on 100 percent ethanol has the lowest carbon emissions for any technology.
It's 19 grams to a kilometer.
Versus 100 plus grams for battery electric today on a well to view basis simply because our electricity is predominantly cold today.
This technology will also enable higher utilization of ethanol generated not only from sugarcane, uh, feeds other feedstocks like, uh, you know, maize, uh, corn, uh, broken rice, et cetera, but also Potentially from waste and government is working towards trying to convert Parali, which is rice straw, which gets burnt annually and creates, creates havoc in the northern part of the country.
And using that, uh, you know, the IOCL's investment in Panipat and Batinda to get it to be converted to ethanol.
So this, to my mind, could be a.
You know, a truly self reliant indigenous energy source, which gives multiple benefits and delivering the the value proposition to farmers.
So those are some of the areas that we worked at.
There are many more, but given time constraint, I like to stick my answer to these.
Right.
Thank you so much, sir, for giving a holistic view, uh, you know, uh, and, uh, how Toyota is supporting India in terms of as India moved towards the Vixit Bharat Goal 2047.
So, sir, uh, so the last question, you know, is, um, like as we move towards 2025, as we enter new year and currently, you know, we are hearing a lot of noise around demand, you know, discount really popping up.
So, uh, any guesstimates you would like to say about the Indian car market You know, for 2025, like, do you think it will be a negative growth less than zero, zero to 5 percent growth or more than, uh, you know, 5 percent for calendar year?
Well, we've, uh, at Toyota, we've seen, uh, you know, uh, last, uh, last fiscal year.
A 43 percent growth year on year.
The calendar till now still continues to be around 40 percent plus in terms of growth.
So as far as we are concerned, we see the momentum is good.
Our order book is very healthy.
We're seeing good orders coming in.
There is good acceptance for the products that we have.
So from our perspective, we see the growth momentum carrying on.
But I do understand and I do appreciate your point of view in terms of, uh, the forecast, looking at the larger markets, particularly around certain segments, small vehicles, etc.
There are signs of slowing down.
But, uh, as far as the market remains till date on a cumulative basis, we are still on a positive side, um, vis a vis not only last year, but I think, uh, compared to even the highest in the recent times, which was around 2018, 19.
Uh, we're still, we, we are optimistic about the market growth.
Uh, it, it may be not as high as, It's been seen in the recent past, and this could be because of the factors off, you know, higher base.
It could also be because of the fact that not all passenger car segments are performing uniformly.
There is a wide variation, and, uh, we're still up on on the On the whole, we are quite optimistic.
Uh, perfect sir.
Thank you very much.
So let's move to the next part of our, uh, your podcast.
So, uh, we are going through a rapid fire questions, and so please feel free to skip any, you can just say skip.
So I think that's fine.
So I'll give you three choices against, uh, you know, uh, every, uh, question.
Uh, so, uh, so starting, uh, uh, so, so it's more of a fun, right?
So, so what's your favorite Toyota model, sir?
Innova High Cross Fortuner or high riding?
All of them.
Okay.
So a hybrid or electric?
Both Okay.
compliment at technology.
You're most, yeah.
Yeah.
So at technology, you are most excited about ai, uh, battery technology, hydrogen fuel cell, or autonomous drive.
Did you say AI in the first part part.
Excited ai.
Yeah.
So AI is artificial intelligence.
Yeah.
Then is battery technology.
Yeah, definitely.
Right.
So, uh, so the biggest challenge for EV industry in India, uh, so if you can just choose one, so infrastructure cost of the vehicle or the policymaking?
I think infrastructure.
So what motivates or excites you every day?
Is it the innovation or is it the leadership?
Or is it the challenges you face every day?
I think it's a mix.
I would say the challenges and the innovation both.
All right.
Perfect.
So the biggest opportunity for Toyota in India, is it the domestic growth?
Is it the electrification or is it the localization?
I think the growth, uh, overall growth is a huge opportunity.
India growth story, right?
So the one word, sir, that that defines Toyota philosophy.
So is it reliability or sustainability or quality?
That's a difficult one.
I would say sustainability.
Sustainability.
Perfect.
Uh, uh, so, uh, Mr.
Guidi, thank you so much for sharing your invaluable thoughts and for going through fireside chat and giving, giving your honest view.
Uh, so, uh, so now you know, as India obviously continues to push towards sustainable and low emission technologies, uh, so Toyota leadership in hybrid and electric solutions will undoubtedly play a critical role as, um.
Uh, as, uh, you know, uh, we discussed in this podcast, so we really look forward, uh, to, uh, it, uh, uh, you know, and see that how, how Toyota unfolds its strategy going forward.
Uh, so thank you again, uh, for your time, uh, Mr.
Gulati, and to all our listeners, uh, for joining us.
Until next time, stay tuned for more conversation that shapes the future of mobility in India.
Thank you and happy Diwali to all.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
