Toyota to export Indonesia-made SUV again

Toyota Motor Corp will restart exporting its Fortuna sport utility vehicles produced in Indonesia to the Middle East and the Phillippines after seeing a recovery in demand, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.

The Japanese automaker will export about 10,000 Fortuna SUVs annually starting around August from its Indonesian plant, which stopped shipping abroad after the global financial crisis in 2008, the Nikkei reported.

In 2009, the Indonesian plant produced about 10,000 vehicles for domestic shipments, and manufacturing for export had been temporarily assigned to its factory in Thailand, the Nikkei said.

Toyota's unit sales in Asia, excluding Japan, is growing faster than in other areas. Its regional unit sales in January to May rose 39 percent from the same period last year, the Nikkei said.