TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp plans to start manufacturing its Yaris subcompact in Thailand as early as next year for sale in Southeast Asia, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper learned Friday.
The production - the first for this model in the region - is expected to begin at a scale of about 50,000 units a year. Production lines will be set up at two existing Thai factories.
The move will be carried out as part of operations adjustment stemming from the planned launch of mass production for the IMV global strategic vehicle at a new Thai factory in 2007.
Toyota makes the IMV, the Camry, the Corolla, and the Soluna Vios in Thailand, for a total of around 270,000 units in 2004. Increased output of the IMV and the production launch for the Yaris will lift the figure to nearly 500,000 as early as 2008.
Car sales in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have been marking double-digit annual growth. With small, fuel-efficient vehicles in particular enjoying sharp growth in demand, Honda Motor Co. released the Jazz subcompact in 2003 and has since launched local production of the car.
Toyota hopes to increase its shares of production and sales in the ASEAN region by strengthening its lineup through the addition of the Yaris. With an engine displacement between 1 and 1.5 liters, the vehicle is smaller than the company's mainstay Corolla and will be targeted at first-time buyers.
In 2004, Toyota manufactured 133,000 units of the Yaris at two factories in Japan and 204,000 units at a French factory. Sales came to 60,000 units in the Japanese market and 280,000 units outside Japan, mostly in Europe.
(Asia Pulse/Nikkei)
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