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Toyota expanding China links
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Japan's biggest automaker, Toyota Motor Corp, said on Wednesday it would sign a deal to expand an alliance with China's First Automotive Works (FAW) that includes additional joint production of vehicles. Toyota declined to comment further on the deal with China's biggest automaker, saying that details would be announced at a joint news conference in Tokyo at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT). Toyota, eager for a place in one of the world's fastest-growing markets, formed a broad alliance in August with FAW to build 300,000 to 400,000 luxury sedans, compacts and sport-utility vehicles annually in China by 2010. As part of the alliance, Toyota rolled out in October its first Chinese-made car at its plant held 50-50 with Tianjin Automotive Xiali Co Ltd , which is 51 percent owned by FAW. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported earlier on Wednesday that under the new contract with FAW, Toyota planned to produce the Crown luxury sedan from 2005 at a new plant in China, with an initial production target of 30,000 vehicles a year. Tianjin Automotive said in October that Toyota had started building a second plant in the northern city of Tianjin to make cars based on the Crown. Toyota will also provide technical assistance in the production of Land Cruiser four-wheel-drive vehicles at the FAW group's Changchun plant, and give assistance to a factory in Sichuan Province, operated by Toyota and a FAW group firm, in building Land Cruiser Prados, the newspaper said. Combined production for the two models would be 3,000-4,000 vehicles a year, it said. Toyota, the world's third-largest automaker, is a relative latecomer to the rapidly growing market in China, where Volkswagen, General Motors and Honda have been making cars for years. Annual car sales in China broke the one million mark for the first time in 2002, surging 56 percent to hit 1.126 million. That figure takes into account joint ventures based in China. Shares in Toyota are down 0.94 percent at 2,625 yen, while the Nikkei 225 share average is down 0.28 percent Wednesday afternoon. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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