The Turkish government has approved financial incentives for Toyota's plan to invest TRY1.11 billion (USD477 million) to modernise and expand its factory in the country. In a statement on its website, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey (TMMT) said the investment would be aimed at boosting annual production capacity from 150,000 to 250,000 units. The automaker produced 131,000 units at its Sakarya plant in 2014. Toyota manufactures its Corolla sedan and Verso compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) at the factory and plans to add an as-yet unnamed compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) in 2016. No further details about the government incentives have been revealed.
Significance: The investment is expected to boost vehicle exports from Turkey. In 2014, Toyota exported 85% of the factory's production to 50 countries in Europe and the Middle East and Africa. The investment is in line with expectations as the automaker announced its intention to boost production at the site last year. As far as the models are concerned, both a hybrid and a turbocharged gasoline (petrol) SUV are likely to be manufactured at the plant, based on the C-HR concept unveiled at last year's Paris Motor Show. The B-segment crossover is expected to be smaller than the automaker's RAV4 SUV. IHS Automotive's production forecasts predict that the crossover will be added in 2016, while production of the Verso MPV will be discontinued at the factory in the same year.
