Toyota to increase production capacity in China by 20pct
Reuters reported that, Japan's Toyota Motor Corp will build additional capacity at its auto plant in China's Guangzhou, a company source said, in addition to beefing up production at a factory in Tianjin city by 120,000 vehicles a year. A person close to the company said that Toyota will build capacity at the production hub in the south China city of Guangzhou to also produce an additional 120,000 vehicles a year, an increase of 24 % over current capacity. All together, between the eastern port city of Tianjin and Guangzhou, Toyota will boost its overall manufacturing capacity by 240,000 vehicles a year, or by about 20%.
Toyota's production capacity in China is 1.16 million vehicles a year.
Reuters reported earlier that Toyota plans to build additional capacity in Tianjin to produce 10,000 all-electric battery cars and 110,000 plug-in hybrid electric cars a year.
Toyota's planned additional capacity in Guangzhou is also for electrified vehicles, said the company source, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak on the matter.
The source did not say how much the additional capacity would cost. The Tianjin expansion is likely to cost USD 257 million, according to a government website.
The planned capacity expansions in Guangzhou and Tianjin are part of a medium-term strategy of the Japanese automaker that aims to increase sales in China to two million vehicles per year, a jump of over 50 %, by the early 2020s, according to four company insiders with knowledge of the matter.
Source : Reuters