Toyota plans to make low-cost small cars for emerging markets

Japans Toyota Motor Corp. said it is considering building a new plant to make low-cost, small cars for emerging markets. The automaker, which has announced plans to open a small-car plant in India, is in the early stage of planning for a second factory in an emerging country, a company spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing policy. Toyota plans to invest tens of billions of yen in the plant, which would have a production capacity of about 150,000-200,000 units a year, the newspaper said. Other top carmakers, including General Motors Corp. of the U.S. and Nissan Motor Co., are also working on cheap cars targeting India and other emerging markets. (May 14, 2008)