TOYOTA ESTABLISHES NEW COMPANIES IN KYUSHU AND HOKKAIDO

Toyota City―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today the establishment of two new companies in Kyushu and Hokkaido that will manage manufacturing plants to be built in these regions. Toyota hopes that by establishing separate companies, the new plants will be able to operate independently and respond faster and more flexibly to the needs of the local communities.

Toyota Motor Kyushu, Inc., as the Kyushu-based company will be known, will be located in Fukuoka Prefecture and be capitalized at ¥30 billion. The new company will start production of passenger cars in early 1993, eventually building up to a rate of 200,000 units annually with 2,000 employees. Total investment is projected to reach about ¥150 billion. Toyota Managing Director Katsuro Nakamura will be president of the new company.

The Hokkaido company, to be called Toyota Motor Hokkaido, Inc., will be based in Tomakomai City, Hokkaido, and capitalized at ¥10 billion. The new company will employ 700 workers and produce cast, forged, and machined auto parts, starting in the fall of 1992. Total investment is expected to be about ¥100 billion. Matsuji Kudo, general manager of Toyota's Hokkaido Project Division, will serve as the new company's president.

The new companies will be Toyota's first domestic production plants located outside of the Toyota City area. The company hopes that by expanding production to other regions it will be better able to respond to the increasing diversification of consumer tastes, as well as reduce working hours in light of the general labor shortage.