Toyota to Produce Luxury Car in China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, August 21, 2003

Toyota to Produce Luxury Car in China

The Toyota Motor Corporation plans to invest 311 million US dollars to produce its luxury "Crown" car model in China.

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The Toyota Motor Corporation plans to invest 311 million US dollars to produce its luxury "Crown" car model in China.

The first batch of Crowns is expected to roll off the production line in two years.And it will be the first time for Toyota to produce a luxury car outside Japan, according to a source with the motor corporation on Thursday.

The increased capital will be used to build a new auto plant for the Tianjin Toyota company to make the Crown. Tianjin Toyota, a joint venture set up by Toyota and the Tianjin No. 1 Auto Corporation in the year 2000, is now manufacturing the Vios, an economy car model.

The investment increase plan will be implemented in compliance with an agreement between Toyota and the China FAW Group (FAW) signed this April. Under the plan, the FAW would become a new investor in Tianjin Toyota.

According to the plan, the former Tianjin Toyota will change its name to Tianjin-FAW-Toyota, and the total investment in the new company is expected to reach 408 million US dollars.

Insiders have acknowledged that the investment increase is an apparent sign that Toyota is stepping up its efforts to tap China's auto market, ten percent of which it hopes to occupy.

From next year, another Toyota car model, the Corolla, will be produced in Tianjin.

To date, Audi is now the only luxury auto maker on the Chinese market. But the monopoly is expected to be broken when the BMW III series rolls off the production line in September this year.

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