New Toyota Company to Support and
Coordinate Production Companies in Europe

Tokyo―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced the establishment of Toyota Motor Europe Manufacturing (TMEM). Its role will be to support and coordinate all Toyota manufacturing operations in Europe.

TMC recognized a need to organize its European manufacturing operations in light of the expansion of Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd. (Toyota UK) and the establishment of a second European plant in France, which is due to start production from 2001. When TMEM begins operating in the near future, it will focus on supporting the start-up of the new French production facilities. TMEM will be located at the Toyota Motor Europe Marketing & Engineering (TMME) facility in Brussels.

Toyota UK's Burnaston plant currently builds the Avensis model and has begun production of the Corolla liftback. Toyota UK's Deeside engine plant is undergoing expansion to add a new castings plant and to increase annual production capacity. Capacity will increase 100,000 to a total of 200,000 units, to make room for Corolla engine production, starting late 1999. Furthermore, Yaris engine production is scheduled to begin in 2001, which will raise total annual production to 350,000 to 400,000 units.