Toyota to start making two SUVs in China

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to start producing two SUVs, the Highlander and RAV4, in China in the first half of next year.
    
Toyota began building its high-end SUVs Land Cruiser and Land Cruiser Prado in China in 2003 targeting government and military clients. Unlike these two vehicles, the Highlander and RAV4 target are aimed at meeting average customers’ needs for family use, sources say.
    
Localizing the two SUVs’ productions is expected to help Toyota grab a bigger market share in China, as SUVs have become the segment experiencing the strongest growth here among all passenger cars.
    
Sources with Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co. told Automotive News China that the company plans to start assembling SUV Highlander in April or May in 2009.
    
Toyota started selling imported Highlander in China in July last year, with price starting from about 400,000 yuan ($56,015).
    
Monthly sales volume of the car is currently from 600 to 700 units.
    
Sources say Highlander will be built in Guangzhou Toyota’s No.2 plant which is still under construction.
    
Meanwhile, a senior manager from FAW Toyota Automobile Co. says the company will begin producing RAV4 "in March or April" next year.
    
In November last year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced it had approved FAW Toyota’s new project with annual capacity of 42,000 SUVs.
    
At present, Toyota is selling the imported four-door version of RAV4 at a starting price of 310,000 yuan ($43,411).

SUVs are becomi ng increasingly popular in China as Chinese customers associate big cars with social status.
    
According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, a total of 375,055 SUVs were sold in China in 2007, up 57.8 percent from 2006.
    
Yale Zhang, Shanghai-based director of emerging market vehicle forecasts for CSM Worldwide, says the SUV segment will continue to grow by 30 to 50 percent a year in China over the next two to three years.