‘Partnership goes deeper’: Toyota CEO hits backs at ‘rebadge’ row

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) cleared the air on its partnership with Suzuki’s Maruti division in India following persistent backlash since the commencing of the joint venture three years ago.

Partnership of nine

Signed in 2019, between Toyota Japan and Maruti, the partnership has so far resulted in the Vitz spun-off of the Suzuki Celerio, the Starlet from the Baleno, the Rumion from the Ertiga and the Urban Cruiser Taisor from the Fronx soon to come to South Africa as the now officially named Starlet Cross.

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Elsewhere, the Belta sedan uses the underpinnings of the Ciaz, while the other side of the coin involves Toyota assembling the Urban Cruiser, known as the Urban Cruiser Hyryder in India, and the Grand Vitara at its Bidadi Plant using the latter’s Global C platform, and reskinning the Corolla Touring Sports and RAV4 as the Swace and Across in Europe.

Bringing the joint venture to nine, the India-only Innova Hycross MPV serves as base for the Invicto, which uses the TNGA-C platform and Toyota-supplied hybrid powertrains.

Not happening

Not set to materialise are Toyota equivalent versions of the Jimny and Swift, despite reported requests from Toyota City to have done so.

“Toyota wanted to badge engineer the Jimny and Swift, but we politely declined. It’s like asking Toyota to let us badge engineer the Land Cruiser.

“Models that are at the heart of our brand are not meant for sharing and both companies respect that,” an unnamed source within Maruti Suzuki told Autocar India in December last year.

Speaking from the top

Admitting to initial hesitance from a local market standpoint, Suzuki Brand Marketing Manager for South Africa, Brendon Carpenter, told The Citizen in 2021,” We have taken a stance that if one of the global market leaders have confidence in the product to bring it in volume to South Africa and export markets, it shows the quality and trust a buyer can get from a Suzuki product”.

“From a global point of view, it is very beneficial to Suzuki. In a market like South Africa, if we are selling between say 50 to 70 Suzuki Balenos (per month) but also include to that say 500 Toyota Starlets, they are still coming out of the Suzuki factory. Suzuki is not giving them away for free,” Carpenter said.

Addressing the row, TSAM CEO and President, Andrew Kirby, said partnerships between different brands as a means of reducing costs are common place, and that the link-up with Suzuki has “proven to be a way in which we can bring a very competitive vehicle to our customers”.

“As we go into an environment of investing into new generation drivetrains, all brands around the world have been looking into ways to reduce development and design. Brands are doing this all over the world, and [Toyota] is not alone,” Kirby told The Citizen at the launch drive of the new Land Cruiser Prado in Mozambique last week.

Going further, Kirby stated that misinformation about the partnership has been prominent since its inception, saying, “We as Toyota manufacture Suzuki models for them in India. This is not just a rebadged product.

“We have a deep level of cross support from a production and design point of view, so that we can bring a compelling product to the market”.

He also added, “I understand the concern and we will over time make sure the vehicles will have more of a Toyota character to them”.

Growth

Indirectly referencing the partnership, Kirby says it has no plans on exiting the A-hatch, B-hatch and SUV segments as these account for a large share of TSAM’s sales.

“Over the last three years, we have increased significantly our offerings in the A-and-B-segments. And there are no plans to move away from A-segment hatch or B-segment. We know the SUV market will grow faster than the hatch, but we have the flexibility to adapt,” Kirby said.

“If you look at Vitz sales, they are doing really well. In the beginning, they didn’t take-off too well, but at the moment, it is a very strong model, so there is no need not to continue with that. There is still a need for an affordable A-segment hatch, and that is still very important for the long-term [for us]”.

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