Toyota to Increase Overseas Production by 40%

Toyota Motor Corp. reportedly will increase the percentage of its vehicles built outside Japan by 40% to 5 million units by 2008.

Included in the revised tally is Toyota’s plan to increase North American output 20% to 1.84 million units as its new San Antonio truck plant in the U.S. and Woodstock, Ont., Canada, facility come online and add volume in the region.

Toyota also will increase its Asian production (excludes Japan and China) to more than 1 million units for the first time, according to a report in the Japanese business newspaper Nihon Heizai.

The report says Toyota will quadruple Chinese output to 600,000 units and increase its production in Japan to 4.15 million units by 2008.

The combined measures would bring Toyota’s total global output to 9.1 million units, positioning it to overtake General Motors Corp. as the world’s No.1 auto maker based on production.