Toyota to Introduce Compact Models in U.S. to Boost Market Share, Newspaper Reports

TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp.plans to export several low-priced compact cars to the United States to attract younger customers and boost market share, a newspaper reported Thursday.

Japan's biggest automaker is finalizing plans to introduce three or four of the models in the United States, some of which it will unveil at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit starting Jan. 6, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said, without citing a source. The report didn't say when the cars will go on sale.

The vehicles are to be based on the Vitz compact sedan -- known as the Echo in the United States -- and come with engines ranging in size from 1.5 liters to 1.8 liters. In Japan, the cars are expected to sell for between 1 million yen ($7,570) and 2 million yen ($15,140), the report added.

Toyota's offices were closed Thursday for a national holiday, said a guard who answered the phone at the company's Tokyo headquarters