Toyota, Honda Bet Big On Hybrid Models For The Indian Market

There has been a mad scramble among Indian automobile companies to get on to the EV bandwagon. But Toyota Motors, the world’s top car maker, is treading a different path to attract new Indian auto buyers. Toyota has taken the hybrid route. Twenty years back, Toyota introduced hybrid cars through the Prius brand. Today hybrids have given way to EVs led by Tesla. . But Toyota does not think Indian consumers are ready for it due to infrastructure and charging bottle-necks. In fact after the launch of Toyota Hyrider and Maruti’s Grand Vitara comes the news of Honda’s entry with City Hybrid. According to Takuya Tsumura, CEO, Honda Cars India, “ EVs may be picking pace but Honda believes that strong hybrids are currently the best bet for India as they are practical and worry free given the state of charging infrastructure.” Hybrids combine the power of petrol engines and the fuel savings of electric motors to give you lower emission without waiting for the battery to be recharged. Hybrids are environment friendly, require less maintenance and get a higher resale value but compared to EVs they have less power, higher upfront cost and high repair cost.  Toyota feels that the Indian market is just not ready for the latest offerings in the international market but Korean makers like Hyundai are offering the best of technologies and latest gizmos to attract Indian buyers.