Toyota Motor said April 20 it plans to spend about 1.4 trillion yen (US$12 billion) on plants and equipment in the year to March 2007, with the focus on overseas markets.
Spending on a plant in Texas, which is due to come on-stream by end-2006, will be increased to $850 million from the original $800 million, while in Canada, Toyota will invest up to $700 million on a plant that will start production in 2008, the Nihon Keizai business daily reported.
Toyota will also spend about $128 million in Russia on a plant due to begin operating in December 2007.
Toyota, Japan's largest automaker and ranked number two in the world has been investing billions of dollars in development and production facilities to boost global production in response to record sales as sky-high oil prices fuel unprecedented interest in its gas-electric hybrid models.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
