Japanese automaker Toyota is planning to build a new production base in Tianjin in China, media sources in Japan have reported, quoting company sources. The Jiji Press reports that sources say the new plant will begin production in 2018 or 2019 in China and will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles, operating with partner FAW Group. Toyota and FAW already have facilities in Tianjin. The new Toyota plant in Tianjin is expected to produce vehicles under a new local brand, reports the Kyodo News.
Significance: Toyota is also to build a plant in Guangzhou in southern China with its other joint-venture partner, Guangzhou Automobile Group Corp (GAC). In January, Reuters reported that Toyota has lifted an investment ban and is now considering building three new production bases − two in China and one in Mexico. If the report is correct, the two new plants in China are likely to be a new FAW-Toyota base in Tianjin and a new GAC-Toyota base in Guangzhou.
