Toyota and FAW to Start Producing Prius in Changchun, China this Year

Tokyo, Japan, Aug 5, 2005 - (JCN Newswire) - CHINA FAW GROUP CORPORATION (FAW) and TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today that they would start building the Toyota Prius hybrid passenger vehicle by the end of this year at their joint plant in Changchun, Jilin Province. The announcement was made during the press day for the 4th Changchun International Auto Expo (Changchun Motor Show).

Details of the Prius to be made in China, such as specifications, pricing, etc., are expected to be announced later this year. The plant in Changchun is operated by Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (SFTM), an FAW and TMC joint vehicle production company.

Present at the FAW/Toyota press conference, which was held at the Changchun International Conference & Exhibition Center, was FAW Vice President Jin Yi and TMC Executive Vice President Yoshimi Inaba. Inaba commented on the occasion, saying, "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone, especially the officials from the government and related organizations, as well as our partners from FAW, for helping us realize our first overseas production of hybrids, here in Changchun - the birthplace of the Chinese auto industry. Toyota regards China as one of its most important markets and I hope that this project can help contribute, if even in a small way, to the expansion of economic development in Changchun and its region and to the solution of environmental issues in China. I also hope that the success of this project will help strengthen the partnership between FAW and Toyota."

Toyota plans to display 10 vehicles at the Changchun Motor Show, which runs from August 5-14. In addition to the Prius, Toyota brand vehicles on display will be the Reiz, which will begin production in China this autumn, and the locally produced Crown, Corolla, Vios and Land Cruiser. Two Lexus brand vehicles, the LS430 and RX300, will also be on display. In addition to these production models, a Toyota F1 car and the i-unit, Toyota's "personal mobility" vehicle, will also be shown