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Toyota announces Camry Hybrid production in Thailand |
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Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has announced that, as part of an effort to further popularize hybrid vehicles worldwide, it will be spending Thai Baht 90m (US$2.7m) to begin production of the Camry Hybrid model at its Gateway plant in Chachoengsao Province, Thailand in 2009. Initially, Toyota Motors Thailand (TMT) will produce 9,000 Camry Hybrid cars per year. "Thailand is the first ASEAN country to build hybrid vehicles. As the Camry has received a warm welcome from Thai customers, we are sure these customers will be satisfied not only with the product but also with its environmental performance", said TMT President Mitsuhiro Sonoda at a joint press conference in Bangkok with Siam Toyota Manufacturing Co., Ltd., attended by Thai government officials. Prior to the announcement the Camry Hybrid has been tested in Thailand comprehensively, while for after sakes servicing dealerships are being trained in terms of hybrid technology knowhow, according to TMT. Although initially the battery and motor units for the car will be imported, the Thai government is working with Toyota in encouraging the company to start manufacturing the hybrid system locally. Furthermore, Thailand wants Toyota to produce smaller hybrid cars apart from the Camry. This would make to technology more accessible to the majority of car buyers in the country, as well as helping to increase economy of scale.
According to Mitsuhiro Sonoda, there are presently no concrete plans to
put the hybrid system into smaller Toyota models. “However since
Thailand is one of the few countries in the world that we produce hybrid
vehicles, if we want to increase the variations of the hybrid vehicle,
this would be the country that we start a new model”, Sonoda said. |
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ASEAN-Autobiz, Vol. 7, No. 76, July 2008 |
