Guangzhou Toyota may build Highlander SUV in 2009

Shanghai, July 30 (Gasgoo.com) Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co., a joint venture formed in September 2004 by Toyota Motor and Guangzhou Automobile, may start to build Toyota's Highlander in mid-2009, a senior company executive said.

"Construction of Guangzhou Toyota's second plant will be completed in June next year, and the first new vehicle to be built here might be the Highlander SUV", Feng Xingya, deputy general manager of the company's sales and marketing division, told Beijing Youth Daily.

After completion, the JV automaker will have an annual output of 400,000 units, which is expected to greatly ease the supply pressure of its hot selling Camry model.

Toyota sold 285,000 vehicles in China from January to June, up 34 percent from a year earlier and double the 17 percent growth rate of the overall market, which slowed from last year's 21.7 percent as severe winter storms, floods and a devastating earthquake blocked traffic and hurt car sales, according to Reuters.

"Toyota's Highlander might be built in China," Feng said