New Plant to Boost Toyota Diesel Engine Output in Thailand

Toyota D-4D Diesel Engine

Tokyo, Japan — TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced that Siam Toyota Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (STM), TMC's engine production base in Thailand, will build a new plant to boost its annual diesel engine production capacity by 150,000 units in 2010.

The new plant, to be built on STM's current premises, will give STM an annual diesel engine production capacity of 350,000 units, up from 200,000 units. Including gasoline engines, STM will have an overall production capacity of 650,000 engines a year.

STM President Shigeru Murai announced the expansion at a joint press conference with Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd. (Toyota's vehicle production base in Thailand) in Bangkok, attended by Thai government officials.

As a global production and supply base for the Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle (IMV) Project, begun in 2004, STM provides diesel engines to IMV-producing countries. In 2007, STM produced 229,000 diesel engines, of which 72,000 were exported to six countries, including India and ASEAN member countries.

The STM expansion is to meet increasing demand for the IMV series, which is popular in various regions around the world, and will be backed by an additional investment of approximately 17.3 billion yen (approx. 5.4 billion baht). The new plant is expected to create approximately 700 jobs.

The Toyota IMV Project is aimed at creating a worldwide optimal production and supply network. Currently, the IMV series consists of three types of pickup truck, a minivan and an SUV.

[Source : Toyota Motor Japan]