More Toyota Plants In India,China and US ?

TOKYO, Nov 13, 2006; Reuters reported that Toyota Motor Corp. will likely add car factories in India, China and the United States as early as in 2009, with combined annual output capacity of 450,000 units, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The factory in India, slated to open in 2009 at the earliest, will have the capacity to produce 150,000 low-cost cars a year, the newspaper said, citing the company's internal medium-term plan.

Japan's top auto maker has been working on developing a cheap, small car to sell in India and other emerging markets where most of the vehicle sales growth is expected to occur.

India would be the first country to produce that car, before Toyota expands production across the globe, the paper said.

Toyota declined to comment on the report.

Under the internal but frequently cited "Global Master Plan", Toyota is aiming to grab a 15 percent share of the global car market by 2010, roughly equivalent to 10 million units.

Toyota will also add a second, 100,000 units-a-year car plant near the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, where it began producing a Chinese version of the new-generation Camry this year, the paper said. Toyota might produce the Yaris subcompact hatchback, among others, at the plant, WSJ said, citing engineers and executives.

Toyota is also looking to build and sell the RAV4 and the Highlander sport utility vehicles in China, although the location was unclear, the paper said.

With group-based global sales growing at a pace of half a million cars a year, Toyota has already announced plans to add at least 560,000 units of production capacity in 2007 alone.

It has been adding factories in North America at a pace of one per year.