Toyota opens new plant in Japan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Toyota celebrated the opening of an auto plant in a rural area of central Japan- its first new Japanese plant in 18 years that promises to grow into a significant production base for the world's largest car maker.

The factory, which employs 900 people and boasts production capacity of 120,000 vehicles a year, is part of Toyota's promise to keep "made in Japan" alive by maintaining vehicle production in Japan of at least 3 million vehicles a year. That's about 40 percent of the 7.5 million vehicles it produces around the world.

Moving more production to countries with lower wages like Thailand, China and India has become a tempting option for Japanese automakers, especially amid a strong yen, which makes goods made in Japan more expensive overseas.

The new plant is part of a larger move by Japanese automakers to try and keep jobs in Japan by cutting production costs, although auto demand here has long been stagnant.

Japanese rival Nissan Motor Co. recently began producing the Leaf electric vehicle at a Japan plant, which used to manufacture the March subcompact whose production was moved to Thailand last year.

Toyota Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi declined to say if the plant will start making hybrids, as some Japanese media have speculated. But he said having Japan plants produce hybrids and plug-ins would be one solution to adding value to the plants.

The factory is set to start producing the Corolla, for both the Japanese and North American markets, in April.

It is designed to be more compact and energy-efficient than comparable old-style Toyota plants, the Associated Press reported.