Toyota will build a new US$600 million auto plant in Brazil that is set to initially churn out 70,000 vehicles a year and employ 1,500 workers, the world’s biggest car maker said yesterday.
The factory in Sorocaba, 100km west of Sao Paulo, will be the auto giant’s third in the South American country, where it opened its first overseas plant in 1962.
Construction will start in September on land the company bought two years ago and production of a newly developed compact car, both for the domestic market and export, is set to begin in the second half of 2012.
Toyota do Brasil Ltda already produces auto parts at its Sao Bernardo plant and the Corolla model at its Indaiatuba plant, which are both also located in Sao Paulo state.
The company said in a statement that it “intends to expand local production in line with market growth in Brazil and other emerging markets.”
Meanwhile, the Nissan-Renault alliance and Russia’s top automaker Avtovaz, maker of Lada cars, will jointly produce subcompact cars at a plant in Russia from 2012, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday.
With the 400 million euro (US$500 million) investment, they will produce 300,000 vehicles a year at AvtoVAZ’s Tolyatti plant, Avtovaz president Igor Komarov told the business daily Nikkei.
Partners Nissan of Japan and Renault of France will shoulder 300 million euros of the total investment, the report said.
Starting from September 2012, Nissan will make 75,000 vehicles a year, with Renault due to roll out 150,000 vehicles annually from March 2013, while state-run AvtoVAZ will produce 75,000 Lada vehicles a year.
The three will market the subcompacts under their own brands, according to the report.
Imports make up nearly half of Russia’s auto market, but the three automakers want to lift their combined share to 40 percent from 33 percent last year.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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