TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. is acquiring land in Brazil for a new plant
and is studying plans to build compact vehicles there as early as 2011 - the
latest in an aggressive drive by automakers in emerging markets.
The plant would create about 2,500 jobs and have initial annual production
capacity of 150,000 vehicles, Toyota said in a statement Wednesday.
Toyota already has an auto plant in Brazil, which started building Corolla
compacts in 1998, and another plant that makes auto parts. The company is buying
land for the new plant in the city of Sorocaba in the Brazilian state of Sao
Paulo, near the two other plants.
Toyota, a relative minor player in Brazil, sold 72,000 vehicles, mostly
Corollas, in the South American country last year, but has seen sales gradually
grow. Toyota set up shop in Brazil 50 years ago.
Soaring gas prices and the growing worries about global warming are perking
global interest in Toyota's products, especially small cars reputed for good
mileage.
Toyota's sales are growing at a pace some analysts say is likely to put it
ahead of General Motors Corp. as the world's No. 1 automaker in terms of global
vehicle sales.
Separately, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said the company was "taking
another look" at its global plans for 2008, following a report by public
broadcaster NHK that said Toyota plans to cut this year's global sales target to
9.5 million vehicles from the original 9.85 million vehicles.
The reported target will still mark growth for Toyota, which sold about 9.4
million vehicles worldwide last year. Toyota reviews such targets in July every
year.
Last week, Toyota undertook widespread manufacturing changes in the U.S.,
where automakers have been battered by the jump in gas prices and worries about
an economic slowdown.
Under the plan, Toyota will start producing the Prius in late 2010 at a
plant it is building in Blue Springs, Mississippi, instead of the initially
planned sport utility vehicle - the first time Toyota will build the popular
hybrid in the U.S.
Toyota has been struggling to keep up with booming demand for the Prius, now
built only in Japan and China.
Toyota also decided to suspend truck and SUV production, including the
Tundra pickup at its San Antonio truck plant and the Sequoia sport utility
vehicle at its Princeton, Indiana, plant for three months.
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