Toyota Announces $215 Mln Expansion at Chinese Plant

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will invest $214.6 million to raise annual vehicle output capacity at a joint venture plant in north China.

The largest Japanese automaker will raise the annual capacity of Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co.'s second plant to 150,000 units by the end of 2009, the company said in a statement. It currently produces 100,000 units.

The second plant, which launched operations in March 2005, now makes a number of models, including the Crown luxury sedan. The move would boost annual capacity of FAW Toyota, its venture with China's FAW Group, to 470,000 units from 420,000 units, and Toyota's overall capacity in China to roughly 690,000 units.

The joint venture has three plants in total.

The company sold 499,000 vehicles in China last year, up 62 percent from a year earlier and beating its target of 480,000.