of the glanza buyers were firsttimersn raja former deputy md of toyota kirloskar motor said in a previous interview that the cross badging of the car gave the company new platforms to engage with both new and existing additional customers he also said toyota kirloskar motor wants to gain customers for life and the crossbadging strategy will be leveraged to gain more of them at a stage earlier than they enter into the toyota fold in other segments nowavik chattopadhyay an auto industry expert and former head of marketing product planning and pr at volkswagen india believes that the baleno being badged as the glanza has worked as long as the former has a waiting period and the toyota variant is not available in the suzuki portfolio the performance of vitara brezza and urban cruiser will be interesting to watch especially in these trying times when overall consumer sentiment is downaccording to chattopadhyay the badge engineering will help toyota more than maruti suzuki after the failures of models like etios liva and yaris in india this is the most efficient way for toyota to expand its portfolio into lower price bands where maruti suzuki has excelled for decades the toyota network already profitable with innova and fortuner will increase earnings from these new products like glanza and the upcoming urban cruisernaveen soni senior vp sales and services toyota kirloskar motor said the allnew toyota urban cruiser will help us with our foray into the compact suv space and fortify our presence in the suv segment which is witnessing increased demand in the indian markethe also added tkm is studying to boost localisation of auto components and parts in support of atmanirbhar bharat or the selfreliant initiative under the alliance toyota and suzuki remain committed to promoting the widespread adoption of less fuelconsuming vehicles including electrified vehicles to help india reduce its environmental footprint and enhance energy security according to experts it is still early to say how the global partnership will unravel in india but given the importance of the indian market to both the automakers tkm and maruti will be extremely cautious not to upset existing systems and disrupt a welloiled business machinewhats in it for maruti suzukiwhile it was said that maruti suzuki would receive the hybrid technology from toyota under the global toyotasuzuki partnership the number one carmaker of india in terms of sales volume is still using the smart hybrid vehicle by suzuki shvs technology across many of its carsso far there is no attempt to launch a crossbadged model by maruti suzuki as well under the toyotasuzuki partnershipin this case whats the benefit maruti suzuki is reaping from this partnership apart from selling the cars to toyota kirloskar motor toyota as a brand in india is renowned for its quality durability and reliability similarly maruti suzukis trust and familiarity owing to its vast network and value for money positioning are the best of both worlds for customersharshvardhan sharma head automotive retail practice nomura research