Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) on April 28 announced that it plans to start production at a new plant in China in the first half of 2012. The plant, for which construction will soon begin, will be the third plant of Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Company Ltd. (SFTM), a joint venture by TMC and China FAW Group Corporation (FAW).
The new plant — located in Changchun, Jilin Province and for which a groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 2008 — will initially produce the Corolla on a scale of 100,000 units annually. New investment will total approximately 3.8 billion yuan (approximately 50 billion yen).
Outline of SFTM
| Company name | Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Company Ltd. (SFTM) | ||
| Representatives |
President: Haruaki Hoshino Vice President: Liu Yigong |
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| Date of establishment | July 2005* | ||
| Capitalization | 115 million U.S. dollars | ||
| Equity participation | FAW: 50%; TMC: 47.1%; Toyota Tsusho Corporation: 2.9% | ||
| Plant name | Chengdu Plant | Changchun Plant | |
| Location | Nansan Road, Economic Development District, Chengdu Economic & Technological Development Zone, Chengdu, Sichuan | Current plant | New plant (to be built) |
| No. 5 Gate, Dongfeng Street, Changchun, Jilin | Changchun Automotive Industries Development Area | ||
| Start of production | December 2000 | October 2003 | First half, 2012 |
| Product lineup | Coaster, Land Cruiser Prado | Land Cruiser | Corolla |
| Annual Production capacity | 30,000 units | 10,000 units | 100,000 units |
| Site area | Approx. 450,000 m2 | Approx. 75,000 m2 | Approx. 980,000 m2 |
| Number of employees | Approx. 2,000 | Approx. 500 | TBA |
| *Originally established as the Sichuan Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. in November 1998, and later re-established as SFTM in July 2005 through a merger with Changchun FAW Fengyue Auto Co., Ltd. established in July 2003 | |||