Toyota Fortuner bookings suspended

Bookings for the Toyota Fortuner SUV has been suspended until July 2010. The reason we are told is that a lot many orders remain pending, and this break in fresh bookings would help them clear all the backlog for the Fortuner.It is also said that this break from bookings for the Fortuner would also help Toyota to replace the faulty brake kits that many of its buyers complained of.

According to Toyota deputy managing director Sandeep Singh, the average waiting period for the Fortuner was around six months. He said that the company did not want customers to wait, and have therefore closed bookings. He added that bookings would be restarted in June or July 2010.

It may be recalled that Toyota India launched the Fortuner in August 2009, and the much anticipated SUV has been a run away success for Toyota. The Fortuner was initially supposed to be launched in 2005, and Toyota took their own sweet time to bring it to India. And now that the Fortuner is here, they are finding it difficult to meet the demand. It is a situation many companies would love to be in!

The Toyota Fortuner has clocked over 6500 units so far in sales, and has become the best seller in its segment. After the launch of the Fortuner, sales of the Ford Endeavour and Honda CR-V were hit. To meet the high demand, the company had increased production to more than 950 vehicles per month from the initial 500 units per month. As of now the company has a backlog of orders for over 6,000 units.

TKM also clarified its stand on the so-called brake problem on the Fortuner, the Company said they are rectifying the brake problems on the vehicle based on customer feedback on a vehicle to vehicle basis as some of the owners, especially those who shift from sedans and other cars to the Toyota Fortuner, a four-wheel-drive SUV, may feel that the brakes feel a little different because the actual performance will be a different from what they may be used to. Toyota Kirloskar Motors have said that in order to improve customer satisfaction, the company was only modifying or improving the brakes, and therefore this was not a recall.

The Toyota Fortuner since its launched has sold very well in its segment and has become the segment leader. Its competitors in the market currently are the Ford Endvour, Chevrolet Captiva, Mitsubishi Outlander, Suzuki Grand Vitara and the Pajero  and the Nissan X-Trail and Honda CR-V.

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Source:www.dancewithshadows.com 30-4-2010

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