[C.Rickey Hirose]

Toyota and FAW to Start Producing Prius
in Changchun, China this Year

CHANGCHUN, CHINA - CHINA FAW GROUP CORPORATION (FAW) and TOYOTA MOTOR
CORPORATION (TMC) announced today that they would start building the
Toyota Prius hybrid passenger vehicle by the end of this year at their
joint plant in Changchun, Jilin Province. The announcement was made
during the press day for the 4th Changchun International Auto Expo
(Changchun Motor Show).

Details of the Prius to be made in China, such as specifications,
pricing, etc., are expected to be announced later this year. The plant
in Changchun is operated by Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (SFTM),
an FAW and TMC joint vehicle production company.

Present at the FAW/Toyota press conference, which was held at the
Changchun International Conference & Exhibition Center, was FAW Vice
President Jin Yi and TMC Executive Vice President Yoshimi Inaba. Inaba
commented on the occasion, saying, "I would like to express my sincere
gratitude to everyone, especially the officials from the government and
related organizations, as well as our partners from FAW, for helping us
realize our first overseas production of hybrids, here in
Changchun-the birthplace of the Chinese auto industry. Toyota regards
China as one of its most important markets and I hope that this project
can help contribute, if even in a small way, to the expansion of
economic development in Changchun and its region and to the solution of
environmental issues in China. I also hope that the success of this
project will help strengthen the partnership between FAW and Toyota."

Toyota plans to display 10 vehicles at the Changchun Motor Show, which
runs from August 5-14. In addition to the Prius, Toyota brand vehicles
on display will be the Reiz, which will begin production in China this
autumn, and the locally produced Crown, Corolla, Vios and Land Cruiser.
Two Lexus brand vehicles, the LS430 and RX300, will also be on display.
In addition to these production models, a Toyota F1 car and the i-unit,
Toyota's "personal mobility" vehicle, will also be shown.

 

[ElectricTroy]

Are they closing the Japanese plant?

troy

 

[Tideland Prius]

uh oh. If they have to "share" technology with other chinese companies (read: steal) like everyone else, we're screwed.

 

[ken1784]

Are they closing the Japanese plant?

No. Their production is only for the China market.

 

[sprett]

Are you sure that the chinese plant will only produce cars for the chinese market? I doubt that china is a big market for such an expensive vechicle. I figure that the chinese plant will ship cars worldwide and by this increasing the profit for Toyota. I can imagine that be labour cost is by far lower in China.

 

[ken1784]

Are you sure that the chinese plant will only produce cars for the chinese market?

I'm pretty sure that China is growing very fast and they are becoming very rich now.

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/05/0322_2_1.html
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/05/0804.html

Again, their production is for the local market only, I'm sure.

 

[WayneBruce]

u gotta think too: even if only 10% of the population have cars, that's still 130 million cars!! :shock:

 

[Lefty]

Since China's air pollution eventually reaches the USA's west coast, I hope the Chinese people buy a HUGE number of Prius cars.

 

[ElectricTroy]

So Japanese workers might be getting laid-off, because their jobs are getting shipped to China.

Sad.

troy

 

[WayneBruce]

their jobs are not being shipped to China. That would imply they are closing down the Japan plant and relocating it to China. As I understand it, they are building new plants in China, while keeping the Japan plant going. Toyota is creating jobs.

(and that also points to a difference between Japan carmakers and US car makers. While Detroit actually *is* laying off people, Tokyo is actually creating jobs. In the US!)

 

[mrv]

all of the reports I have read is that Toyota is opening up a NEW plant in China to make Prius for the Chinese market. (Prius is not currently sold in China.)

Besides, last I read there are 5 other cars made on the same assembly line/plant as the Prius in the current Japanese plant (so if just moving Prius production elsewhere, the workers have other stuff to do). That's how Toyota has managed to up the Prius production in the last year - make less of the other models that are on that line. (The 2005s also are coming out of a second Toyota facility now, based on the VIN listings in some recent TSBs...)