Toyota to produce Corolla sedans in China

Toyota Motor Corp, Japan's largest automaker, opened a factory in China to produce its Corolla sedan in the world's second-largest vehicle market.

The factory, located in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, is the third operated by the venture with China FAW Group Corp, Toyota said in a press release on its Website today, Bloomberg reported. The joint venture's production capacity increases by 91 percent with the opening of the new facility.

The new plant may help Toyota to increase sales in China by at least 30 percent this year and overtake Honda Motor Co, Toyota's Executive Vice President, Yoshimi Inaba, said last month. The company forecasts it will sell "much more'' than 400,000 vehicles in China this year, up from 308,000 in 2006.

The venture invested 3.6 billion yuan (US$471 million) in the new factory, with a production capacity of 200,000 vehicles annually, the company said. The joint venture can now produce as many as 420,000 vehicles each year through its three factories.

Based in central Japan's Toyota City, Toyota started to make vehicles in China in 2002, partnering with FAW and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Toyota aims to raise its share in the Chinese passenger car market to 10 percent in 2010 from 6.5 percent last year.