Toyota Holds Stone-laying Ceremony for New Plant in Thailand

Tokyo ― TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today it will construct another plant in Thailand for Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd. (TMT), Toyota's automobile production and sales company in Thailand, and marked the occasion with a stone-laying ceremony today at the plant's scheduled location in Ban Pho district, Chachoengsao Province.

Approximately 300 people attended the event, including Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry Suriya Jungrungreangkit, Governor of Samutprakarn Province Sukhumrath Saributra, Governor of Chachoengsao Province Arnont Promnart, TMC Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada and TMT President Ryoichi Sasaki. In his greeting, Uchiyamada said, "We are tremendously proud of Thailand and Southeast Asia's automobile industry―it has become a production and export hub of perfection. The Toyota Ban Pho Plant will be a huge part of this success, both in terms of state-of-the-art technology and environmental friendliness."

The new plant will begin production of Hilux pickup trucks in early 2007. Annual production capacity will be around 100,000 vehicles, and approximately 41 billion yen will be invested in the new plant, which will employ roughly 2,000 new employees at full production.