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GM, Ford & Toyota expand in China

By Alborz Fallah |

General Motors, Ford and Toyota have all released details about their ongoing expansion in China, the world’s fastest growing automobile market.

GM, Ford & Toyota expand in China

All three currently have a foothold in the Chinese market, with GM leading the race with its joint venture managing over 1 million sales last year.

GM Vice President Ken Cole said his company has signed a framework pact for “the sale and export of approximately USD $1 billion worth of vehicles, components, machinery and equipment to our flagship joint venture in China,”

Meanwhile, Ford has signed a similar deal worth more than USD $800 million. That deal includes the sale of more than 30,000 North American-built vehicles to China starting from 2009. Additionally the blue oval will sell transmission components and parts (starting this year) to its joint venture in China.

Not to be outdone, Toyota has announced plans to build a second production line in China, which will cost $380 million in investments. The new production line will build more Toyota Camrys.

Currently Toyota already assembles around 200,000 Camry and Yaris models in China, but it plans to add another 120,000 vehicles thanks to the new line, which should open by mid-2009. That capacity will expand to 200,000 in the future, Toyota says.


 
  • Minnow

    So Australia is making a Camry that is essentially the same as the Camry made in China? WOW suddenly the Toyota Australia plant is looking rock solid in the long term. So what if a new hybrid is going to be built here, whats to stop Toyota moving that to China?

    When mitsubishi closed, everyone started targeting Ford next just because the BF MkII was selling slowly and wasn’t exporting. While TOYOTA is setting up a plant to manufacture Camrys in China. What hope does Australia have in competing in terms of labour cost with China? While manufacturing a homogenous product that is built in countless other countries.

    With our current high dollar, high labour costs, relative small market and china’s growing market and toyota’s seemingly obsessive aim for being number 1 with maximum profit. Of Which the only way to do so is to reduce costs. i think toyota may be looking quietly into the cost/benefit analysis long term production here in oz, when the likes of GM sold 1million cars in China alone. Imagine every car last year sold being a commodore. Not to mention the Holden Statesman being built in China… aussie manufacturing isn’t looking good at all but then again Holden is the engineering house of the commy, the camry… well thats in Japan what input has Australia had in that?

  • John

    Why wouldn’t Toyota close up shop in Australia and import the Camry from China.
    Seems to make alot of sense to me.
    The Chinese could probably build them for half the cost we can, it’s not as if sales would drop. Look at the Corolla, when Toyota stopped making the Corolla locally, sales of the latest imported Corolla’s have never been stronger.

  • Golfschwein

    This is exactly what I thunked when I read this report this morning. But I chose not to be *PRIMO* with a comment in case I stirred things up. Heavens, Good Gracious, yes. If they can churn ‘em out in China (there’s a nice piece of alliteration for you!), how secure does Australian assembly look?

  • http://AustralianCarAdvice Good Move Toyota

    Toyota is establishing extra capacity around the world to satisfy growing demand and will not be closing shop in Australia. Toyota has invested considerable amount of $$$ locally over the past couple of years not to mention they will commence biulding the hybrid version of the Camry in Oz beginning 2010.

    Toyota has a growing manufactuering base in Australia and will continue it’s strong presance for many, many years to come.

    Extensive modernisation of Altona, commissioning of a local design facility, undertaking as one of the main hubs for dust control / research for TMC, introduction of the Aurion, etablishment of TRD in Australia and now a hybrid version of the locally manufactuerd Camry are just some examples of local investment from Toyota in recent times which suggests TMC has no plans of abandoning production in Austtralia any time soon.

  • peterd

    thats what mitsu said

  • http://AustralianCarAdvice Good Move Toyota

    Mitsubishi doesn’t have money … Toyota does !!

    Mitsushishi Australia had no export and sold less 1000 locally manufactuered units per month in Oz.

    Toyota Australia has Australia’s largest export regime and sells between 3500 – 4000 locally manufactuered units per month.