Toyota is planning an additional Brazilian plant costing over US$1bn according to a local newspaper.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Valor Economico said Toyota’s second car plant in Sao Paulo state should be ready around 2010 to build about 200,000 small economy cars per year as well as engines, according to Reuters.
A Toyota spokesman had last month confirmed the company was considering setting up a new plant to build low-cost cars in Brazil but had not decided on details such as the location or timing of the move.
Toyota currently builds the Corolla sedan and Corolla Fielder wagon (the latter will soon be phased out with no successor) with flex-fuel engines in Brazil.
Earlier reports had said that Toyota would use its new Brazilian factory to make low-cost cars for emerging markets.
But Fernando Calmon, just-auto’s South American correspondent, said local speculation about the new plant had suggested it would more likely build an economy car like the Honda Fit [Jazz], which is made in Brazil, rather than a low-cost model.
