Japan’s Toyota Motor plans to build a third car plant in India, expanding its manufacturing footprint in the country for the first time in over a decade.
The world’s biggest car maker wants the plant to start with capacity of 80,000 vehicles a year, which could grow to 200,000 over time. The plant’s proposed initial capacity will expand Toyota’s existing manufacturing capacity in India by as much as 30% from 400,000 units currently.
Toyota’s India sales have soared due to a global partnership with auto maker Suzuki under which the two Japanese companies take some vehicles originally developed by their partner, then tweak and sell these under their own brands to fill out their product line-up.
The company currently has two car plants in Bidadi, a town in India’s southern state of Karnataka, and the third one will be set up at the same premises. Toyota added a third shift at both plants in May this year.
