Toyota factory to be located in São Paulo
Valor Econômico - 06/26/2008
Toyota has already chosen the State of São Paulo to build its new industrial complex in the country. It is an audacious investment. The total of funds will exceed US$ 1 billion and will involve not only the line of production of small vehicles but also one factory of engines, at least. The official announcement, for now, scheduled for the second half of the year, may have the presence of the international president of the company Katsuaki Watanabe. In order to give the long waited leap in the markets of Brazil and South America, the Japanese maker gets ready to open a new unit which will produce more than 200 thousand cars a year. It is equivalent to say that it is a model that will sell as much as those of the line of Gol, Palio and Celta. This unit has to be ready nearly until 2010. The management of the company is in the final phase of the discussion on which municipality of the State of São Paulo will receive the new investment. There is a possibility the resources will be shared between more than one city, taking into account the company's intention of also having one unit exclusively for the production of engines. Toyota already has a plant, which produces the Corolla line, in Indaiatuba, in the interior of São Paulo. This area does not support such a large structure as is this one being projected because the land is located at a slope, as have already remarked some officers of the company. Toyota comes with an aggressive project in the sector. Unlike the other makers installed in the country in the last decade, which have not dared to invade the segment of market in which the veterans are sovereigns, of the popular cars, which represent more than half of the sales, Toyota does not seem to fear facing giants of the sector in Brazil, such as Volkswagen and General Motors. It already competes with them outside the country.