Toyota to build new factories in Mexico, China

Tokyo

TOYOTA Motor Corp said on Wednesday that it will build new factories in Mexico and China, ending a self-imposed expansion freeze and putting more pressure on global rivals.

The world's largest carmaker by sales volume said that it would build a US$1 billion plant with an annual capacity of 200,000 cars in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, increasing its overall North American production capacity by about the same number of vehicles. That plant, Toyota's first passenger car plant in Mexico, would have about 2,000 workers, the company said.