Toyota plans Kitakyushu parts plant

NAGOYA March 3, 2007; Japan Today reported that Toyota Motor Corp is considering opening a new car-parts plant in Kitakyushu in light of brisk export demand and the availability of qualified workers there, company sources said Friday. If the plan goes forward, the new facility will probably make large components that are costly to transport, beginning around 2009, because of its proximity to an airport, the sources said.

The move would be in line with the top automaker's policy of making Kitakyushu its second-most-important domestic manufacturing base after Aichi Prefecture, where it is headquartered.