Toyota to invest $680 million for second car plant in India

Tokyo: Toyota Motor's compact car for India is not too far away going by the way the company is going ahead in committing investment in a new plant that will manufacture the car.

Though Toyota has not announced a price range for that car, it is widely expected to cost about $8,000 (Rs 3.6 to Rs 4 lakh).

The company has announced plans to invest 68 billion yen (Rs 3,200 crore) on a second car factory in India and plans to begin manufacturing the new compact car and the Corolla sedan from 2010. The new plant will be located at its auto production base in Bidadi on the outskirts of Bangalore.

The plant will have an initial capacity of 100,000 units a year, increasing Toyota's total annual capacity to 160,000 vehicles in the country.

The Japanese automaker had announced in April an outlay of 35 billion yen for the buildings and basic equipment for the plant. It said in a statement it would spend another 33 billion yen on other equipment necessary to build the low-cost, compact car. "An additional amount of around Yen 33 bn (about Rs 15.53 bn) will be invested for both general-purpose and specialised equipment necessary for manufacturing a new compact vehicle," the company said in a statement.     

Toyota Kirloskar Motor's (TKM) managing director Hiroshi Nakagawa also denied reports that the small car would be launched in association with Daihatsu, in which Toyota holds 51 per cent stake. He said the ''compact car would be very much Toyota's."

TKM had earlier announced an investment of nearly Rs 1,400 cr for its second unit at Bidadi near here, for which a foundation stone was laid in July this year.
     
Nakagawa denying reports that the compact was being launched in competition against the Nano said, "Tata's Nano is a different type of car compared to our line-up," he added.