New Delhi, After discontinuing production of its money-spinner multi-utility vehicle Qualis in India, Japan's biggest auto maker Toyota Motor Corp has decided to roll out a new crossover car -- Innova -- in March to boost its market share.

Recently launched in Indonesia, the Innova, likely to be priced in the Rs 5-6 lakh bracket, will compete with the mid-size Ford Fusion, introduced in December 2004 with a price tag of Rs 6.20 lakh, in India.

Toyota said the new model would combine rugged utility vehicle performance with passenger car comfort.

Yesterday, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and the Kirloskar Group, announced the withdrawal of its best selling model -- the Qualis -- from the Indian market.

''The Qualis has been our mainstay in India for the past five years. It has provided the perfect platform for Toyota, but we feel it is time to bring newer products that will provide better value to the customer,'' Toyota added.

The lag between the Qualis' withdrawal and the new car launch would allow the company to retool its plant near Bangalore and expand annual capacity to 60,000 units from 45,000, a Toyota spokesman told UNI.

The Qualis marked Toyota's re-entry into the Indian automobile market, years after it drove out of a truck-making joint venture with the DCM Group. Toyota has sold over 1.4 lakh units of the Qualis in India, with 30 per cent of its sales coming from the tourist taxi market.

Toyota, which also makes the Corolla sedan in India and imports the Camry family car and the Prado utility vehicle fully built, sold 36,700 units of the Qualis in 2004, giving it about 22 per cent share of the utility vehicles market.

Based on an Indonesian model Kijang, the Qualis has been Toyota's backbone in India with sales outnumbering established rivals like Tata Sumo.