New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Tuesday said its first priority is to ensure full utilisation of production capacity it has already created in the country.

The company, which has an installed capacity of 3.10 lakh units spread across two plants in Bidadi, near Bengaluru.

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"Our first step is to ensure full capacity utilisation of what we have created and this will take time," TKM said in a statement.

The company rolls out Innova, Fortuner and Vellfire (imported as CBU) from the first plant, and Yaris and Camry Hybrid from the second facility.

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In an interview with Bloomberg earlier, TKM Vice Chairman Shekar Viswanathan said that government keeps taxes on cars and motorbikes so high that companies find it hard to build scale.

The company later said that it continues to be committed to the Indian market, and its operations in the country is an integral part of Toyota's global strategy.

"We need to protect the jobs we have created and we will do everything possible to achieve this. Over our two decades of operations in India, we have worked tirelessly to build a strong competitive local supplier eco-system and develop strong capable human resources," the automaker said.

In wake of the slowdown that has been exaggerated by COVID-19 impact, the auto industry has been requesting the government for support to sustain industry through a viable tax structure, TKM noted.

"We remain confident that the government will do everything possible to support the industry and employment. We recognise the strong proactive efforts being made by the government to support various sectors of the economy and appreciate the fact that it is open to examine this issue despite the current challenging revenue situation," it added.

The company's recent partnership with Suzuki in India on sharing technology and best practices are also in support of the "Make in India" initiative and the government's policy, and aim to enhance the competitiveness of both companies, the automaker said.

In March 2018, Toyota Motor Corp and Suzuki Motor Corp had concluded a basic agreement for supplying hybrid and other vehicles to each other in the Indian market.

As part of the arrangement, TKM already sources Baleno from Maruti Suzuki India and sells it as Glanza after making certain changes in design and features.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)