Toyota to Sell New Car in Asian Market

12/11/96

Kyodo reports that Toyota, on January 31, will start selling a new passenger car that it developed exclusively for Southeast Asian markets. The car is a four-door sedan called "Soluna," and will be made in Thailand. The company will install a new 1500 cc twin-cam engine in the car.

The Soluna will be made with 70% local content, more than any other Toyota model sold in Thailand. It Toyota's first "Asian car," developed specifically for sale in Southeast Asian countries.

Honda recently released its new "City" car in Thailand and is watching its sales near the 14,000 mark, its original sales goal for the country.

Toyota's Soluna is already in production at a Toyota Motor Thailand Co. (TMT) plant. TMT set its annual sales target at 40,000 vehicles for 1997. Its hoping for 60,000 sales by the year 2000.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel