Toyota's New Crown to be China-made in late '09

Shanghai, May 31 (Gasgoo.com) FAW Toyota has revealed that the luxury New Crown sedan of Toyota Motor will come into mass-production at the joint venture's new plant in Tianjin by the end of this year, said xinhuanet.com today. The China-made New Crown will compete with Audi and BMW luxury sedans in the local market.

The Chinese version of New Crown will have a longer wheelbase to meet the needs of China's consumers. In addition to the stretched wheelbase, the all-new Crown model is 30mm longer and 15mm wider than its predecessor, and it is more streamlined. The 13th-generation Crown retains the sense of poise and reliability that characterizes the Crown series.

According to Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., the capacity of Tianjin FAW Toyota's No.2 plant, where Crown and Reiz sedans are built, will be expanded to 150,000 units in late 2009 from the current 100,000 units. Toyota is also planning to make Crown's hybrid version later in China.

FAW-Toyota sold 372,688 vehicles in 2008, up 129% from the previous year and ranking fourth among top 10 Chinese automakers by sales in the year, just behind FAW-VW, Shanghai-VW and Shanghai-GM. But in the first quarter this year, FAW Toyota sold 63,005 vehicles, down 30% year on year, largely due to its change in production strategy.

To benefit from China's auto support policies and meet the growing market demand, FAW Toyota has decided to sell 400,000 vehicles this year. This sales target will include different models, with the newly launched RAV4 SUV's sales aimed at 60,000 units.