Toyota creating new brand to sell cheap cars in Brazil and India

[squat]

Toyota Motor Corp. is joining the cheap-car race with a $5,000 vehicle geared toward emerging markets such as India and Brazil, a Japanese newspaper reported.

Toyota will develop the car with its small-car subsidiary, Daihatsu, and build the car by 2015 in Bangalore, India, the Asahi newspaper reported.

The move puts Toyota into competition with Nissan-Renault and Tata Motors, which plan inexpensive cars for booming developing markets.

A Toyota spokesman declined to comment on the report.

The car might be exported to Brazil from India, Asahi said. It will be sold under a new fourth brand rolled out in addition to Toyota, Lexus and Scion, presumably to quarantine the car's downmarket image.

Continued...

[Mr Anderson]

So now they have more brands than Chrysler does.  I wonder if Toyota is going to follow GM down the brand rabbit hole.  They might think it leads to a different place than GMs did, but just because you spawn a brand instead of buying one doesn't make your fate any different.

[markedman]

So now they have more brands than Chrysler does.  I wonder if Toyota is going to follow GM down the brand rabbit hole.  They might think it leads to a different place than GMs did, but just because you spawn a brand instead of buying one doesn't make your fate any different.

Chrysler had plymouth, and should've kept it going.  I hope toyota does well in brazil, but I hope chrysler does better at building a name for itself. 

[no spoiler]

At least someone out there is expanding their business.  Chrysler needs to do this so they don't sully the nameplate in other countries.

[flint]

It makes sense, each brand in the toyota line up has a unique image, like the jeep brand does.  A cheap 5k car doesn't fall under any of those so they need to make a new one.

[moparman]

At least someone is expanding their market in this crappy economy.  The crazyness going on in this country is the first I've ever seen, and I hope it's the last.

[diesel game]

At least someone is expanding their market in this crappy economy.  The crazyness going on in this country is the first I've ever seen, and I hope it's the last.

Toyota isn't the only automaker expanding, Tesla is selling more and more cars every month