Toyota will spend RUB5.9bn (US$180m) to build the recently redesigned RAV4 at its St Petersburg plant from 2016, the company announced. Production is destined for both Russia and Belarus.
The RAV4 joins the Camry built at the plant since operations started in 2007. The RAV4 is now the automaker’s best selling model in Russia and the best selling C-segment SUV overall, Toyota said in a statement.
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It will hire an extra 800 workers to build the additional model.
Production at St Petersburg, now working on two shifts, rose from 14,100 units in 2011 to 28,400 last year when the plant started shipping the Camry to neighbouring Kazakhstan.
Adding the RAV4 will double production capacity from 50,000 to 100,000 units a year, Toyota said.
