Toyota to Increase Production in U.S.

Washington DC November 23, 2005; The AIADA newsletter reported that thanks to its recent acquisition of 8.7 percent of Fuji Heavy Industries stock, Toyota is expected to begin assembling 100,00 vehicles annually at the company’s Subaru manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Indiana. Expected to begin in 2007, the move was first reported by the Asahi newspaper in Japan, according to AP. Toyota will also begin making 200,000 new trucks next year at a plant the company is building in San Antonio, Texas, and its capacity will be boosted by another 100,000 vehicles in 2008, when Toyota’s new RAV 4 plant comes online in Canada. There are five to six models being considered for production at the Subaru plant, the Japanese paper said, other reports have indicated Toyota might build hybrids at the Fuji plant. Toyota acquired the Fuji stake in October after General Motors sold its 20 percent share in the Japanese company.