Suzuki, Toyota Up Chinese Production
Suzuki and Toyota are radically increasing production in China, in an attempt to compensate for faltgering sales in more established markets. Thomson Financial News (via Forbes) reports that Suzuki plans to double production “as early as next year” at its Chonqing-based ChangAn factory. The plant currently churns out 100k Chinese-market Altos. But a recent $144m investment in a new 1.5-liter engine for the ubiquitous (in China) hatchback, and a forthcoming additional $100m + investment in assembly lines, will see production rise to 200k annual units. Toyota is likewise betting long on China; a new factory is under works now in Jilin. Set to open production “some time next decade,” the factory will lift ToMoCo’s China production to over 1m per year. This will make China the number two manufacturing location for Toyota after the United States, where it builds some 1.5m vehicles annually. This will knock Hyundai out its position of top car manufacturer in China, after the Koreans recently spent nearly $800m to increase output to 600k per year.