01/30/2008 08h51

After 50 years, Toyota prepares new cycle of performance in Brazil

Gazeta Mercantil - 01/30/2008

Completing 50 years, Toyota do Brasil gets ready for the beginning of a new cycle in the Country.  The Japanese assembler, which started producing the first utility Land Cruiser in 1959, should define its second factory in the Country this year.  Paraná and São Paulo are in the dispute to receive the assembler.  The factory is necessary for the growth plans of the Japanese assembler, which intends to reach 10% of the Brazilian market already in 2010. According to the assemble, the Indaiatuba unit, in the countryside of São Paulo, produces 250 cars a day, which is equivalent to 95% of the production capacity of the unit from São Paulo. The Corolla and Corolla Fielder models are manufactured there.  Among the new assemblers, Toyota appears in fourth place, behind compatriot Honda and French Peugeot and Renault.  Last year, the company had 3% of share in the domestic market, with 72 thousand sold vehicles.  Toyota's bet is the new car that it should produce in the Country, already in the unit that should be announced.  It would be a compact, a segment that the company is not present in yet.  The car will arrive in a favorable moment, with the valorization of the prices of the compact vehicles.  One of the bets is the new version of the Yaris, a model that Toyota manufactures in France and has already been sold in the European market for at least five years.  According to market sources, the Yaris II would be launched in Brazil and in emerging markets such as Russia and India.  The chain of dealerships is formed by 119 resales all over Brazil.  Until December of 2004 the brand had 90 dealerships.