Toyota will build a second manufacturing plant in Malaysia, a 50,000-unit-a-year facility that will build cars and energy-efficient vehicles when operations launch in early 2019.
Akio Takeyama, deputy chairman-UMW Toyota, says work on the 2 billion ringgit ($489 million) facility will begin in the second half of this year.
“The new plant is required as Toyota foresees future customers’ preferences becoming more diverse in the future,” Takeyama says in a statement.
The automaker’s existing plant in Shah Alam will continue operating, but its car line will be shifted to the new facility and it will be reconfigured to produce mainly commercial vehicles.
The two plants will give UMW Toyota combined annual production volume of about 100,000 units.
Toyota Managing Officer Tatsuro Takami, in Malaysia for the announcement, says the expansion will ensure operational efficiency and cost competitiveness.
The new plant, covering 7.2 million sq.-ft. (670,000 sq.-m), will be equipped with advanced production technology consistent with Toyota’s goal of establishing “simple, slim, and flexible” plants around the world, he says.
Toyota Boshoku UMW, a joint venture between UMWT and Toyota Boshoku, which makes seats and other interior components for Toyota models, will move production to the new plant.
The announcement comes as the Malaysian government announces EEV sales rose 19% last year to 200,260 units, accounting for 34% of car sales nationwide.
International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed tells the Malaysian Parliament the government’s policy of import and excise duty exemptions is encouraging companies to introduce hybrid models.
The government currently recognizes nine car models produced by Perodua, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Nissan and Renault as EEVs, he says.
