Toyota to build three assembly plants in India’s Maharashtra: Nikkei

TOYOTA Motor plans to build three vehicle assembly plants in the western Indian state of Maharashtra as automakers shift focus from stagnating markets like the US and China to emerging ones, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday.

The new facilities will triple Toyota’s production capacity in the country to 1 million units by the 2030s, with the total investment estimated at around 300 billion yen (S$2.4 billion), the report said.

Toyota Motor did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The new plants will bring Toyota’s factories in India to six, with the other three existing facilities in the south. The southern plants primarily serve the domestic market, while the new plants will handle exports as well, the report said.

Toyota has a production capacity of 3.1 million units in Japan, 2.2 million in China and 1.5 million in the US, according to Japanese research company Fourin. The three new plants will make India its fourth-largest production base, the Nikkei said.

Toyota will also produce plug-in hybrid vehicles for environmentally conscious consumers, the newspaper said. REUTERS