Toyota to Open Camry Plant in Russia - St. Petersburg Facility to Start Operations in 2007

Tokyo, Japan, Apr 26, 2005 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporationm announced today that - in view of the rapid growth and potential of the Russian market - it has decided to build its first automobile manufacturing plant in Russia in St. Petersburg.

TMC Senior Managing Director Tokuichi Uranishi made the announcement today at a press conference in St. Petersburg, following the reaching of a basic agreement between TMC and the Russian government and the city of St. Petersburg. Present, among others, were Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref and St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko.

The new plant, to be located in St. Petersburg's Shushary district, will have an initial annual production capacity of approximately 50,000 units. At the start of production the plant will initially produce the Camry - a mainstream seller in Russia - at a pace of about 20,000 units a year. Those units are to be sold in Russia through OOO* "TOYOTA MOTOR" (TMR), TMC's Moscow-based sales company, which was established in April 2002 and now has 22 dealers and four service centers. It has not yet been decided what additional models may be built.

The plant, to be named OOO "TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING RUSSIA", is scheduled to start operations in December 2007. In order to prepare for future expansion, Toyota has secured approximately 220 hectares of land. An initial investment of approximately 15 billion yen (approximately 4 billion rubles) is planned, along with the creation of approximately 500 local jobs. The new company will be set up by TMC. Later, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will make an additional investment.

Last year in Russia, Toyota sold 47,000 vehicles through TMR and other trading companies. In addition to the Camry, other models sold included Toyota's Corolla, Avensis, Camry, RAV4 and the Land Cruiser 100, as well as Lexus-brand vehicles.

* Russian abbreviation for "Limited Liability Company".