Toyota to expand in North America — WSJ

Toyota Motor Corp. will likely add two more assembly plants in North America by the end of the decade as part of a strategy to capture a larger share of the world’s biggest auto market, the Wall Street Journal said.

Toyota, already the world’s most profitable auto maker and vying to become the biggest, plans to announce the site of its seventh assembly plant in North America by the end of the year, the newspaper reported from Detroit.

The search for an eighth plant will begin soon after, the Journal reported, citing senior company executives.

Toyota said it was planning to build more plants but no concrete decisions had been made, reiterating previous comments.

“More plants will be necessary for us to expand our sales,” said Tomomi Imai, manager of the auto maker’s international communications department.

“We have a policy of manufacturing where we sell, so we are considering North America,” he said.

Toyota expanded U.S. sales by 10 percent in 2004, selling over 2 million units there for the first time and giving it a 12.2 percent share of the world’s richest car market.

With its North American sales beating projections, Toyota is closing in on General Motors Corp.’s position as the world’s biggest auto maker.

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Currently, Toyota has five North American final assembly plants in operation. A sixth is being built in Texas.

Toyota, which is investing heavily in plants and technology, reported a 5.3 percent rise in third-quarter operating profit as it cut costs and boosted its share of every major car market.

Apart from its North American expansion, it is also starting production at a new plant in the Czech Republic this year while building more cars in China, Argentina and South Africa.

Toyota has said it will aim to at least match last year’s record operating profit of $16 billion in its current business year ending on March 31.

Driven by brisk demand, Toyota has nudged up its global sales forecast for the business year by 70,000 units to 7.29 million for the group, which includes minivehicle maker Daihatsu Motor Co. and truck maker Hino Motors Ltd..