Toyota lined up to expand TEKSI1M fleet

PETALING JAYA: A Japanese car manufacturer is set to beef up the supply for the elegant brown Teksi 1Malaysia (TEKS1M) ‎ by end of this year.
Industry sources told theSun that Toyota Innova was already in line to add to the fleet of TEKS1M other than Proton Exora as the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) was serious in meeting its target of ‎having 7,500 TEKS1M vehicles‎ by year-end.
Talks have been ongoing for several months between SPAD and Toyota as well as Nissan ‎with details already being presented to the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) earlier this year.
‎"SPAD was naturally unhappy with the slow progress of production by Proton to produce the large TEKS1M 1.6 litre MPV fleet as the new image of the taxi industry. So the news that Toyota would be among the face in taxi migration is certainly welcomed by the industry," said the source.
theSun understands that Toyota Innova 2.0 litre is already available for sale as TEKS1M at RM‎73,228 for manual transmission and RM76,011 for automatic transmission and the production may take at least three months to complete.
However, it is learned that SPAD is still trying to negotiate with Toyota to reduce the prices offered for Innova model to ensure it is affordable and economical in the long run for companies and cabbies to own it.
Currently only 1,000 Proton Exora for TEKS1M have been supplied to cabbies in Klang Valley, Johor Bahru and Penang.
It is expected that 42,642 budget and executive taxi drivers ‎would migrate to TEKS1M vehicle in the next five years.
It is also learned that the new TEKS1M by Toyota will also be equipped with tracking performance device for Centralised Taxi Service System (CTSS) , NGV gas tank, cashless machine and other new features.