Auto company Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has decided to increase the number of its collaborations with Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to 40 by 2012, under its Technical Education Programme. The company currently has tie-ups with 16 such institutes. The Toyota Technical Education Programme (TTEP) was started to help ITIs train technicians for the automotive repair industry. The company feels that the manpower in India’s auto repair industry is inadequately skilled, due to a lack of professional training. It introduced a new training model for body and paint repairs at the Sir CV Raman Industrial Training Institute last week.
Meanwhile, the company is working at ramping up the production of the Toyota Fortuner by January 2010. It will be producing 800 units of the SUV from January, up from the current 600 units per month. TKM Deputy Managing Director, Mr Sandeep Singh, said that while the passenger car segment was recovering well from the downturn, the MPV segment was still lagging behind. Toyota’s small car, to be launched in 2011, will be displayed at the January Auto Expo in Delhi.
