Toyota plans new $1.2 billion EV plant in Tianjin with FAW: document

[February 29, 2020]    BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese automaker Toyota plans to build a new electric vehicle plant in the Chinese city of Tianjin with its local partner FAW Group, a document from the local authorities showed.

A logo of Toyota is pictured at Bangkok Auto Salon 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand, July 4, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo

The joint venture between Toyota and FAW plans to invest around 8.5 billion yuan ($1.22 billion) in the planned car plant in Tianjin, according to a document issued by authorities of the China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city.

The plant will have manufacturing capacity of 200,000 new energy vehicles a year, the document showed. In China, new energy vehicles include battery-only, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles.

Toyota declined to comment on the project but said in a statement that the company regards China as one of its most important global markets and is constantly considering various measures to implement in China to meet the needs of growing the business in the country.

Last year, despite China's overall auto market dropping 8.2%, Toyota sold 1.62 million Toyota and premium Lexus cars in China, the world's biggest auto market, a 9% sales jump compared with a year earlier.

It is also expanding car manufacturing capacities in its Guangzhou-based venture with another partner GAC.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun, Norihiko Shirouzu and Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

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