Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday announced its decision to build a new car plant in the northern French city of Valenciennes.
The plant will be Toyota's second in Europe; its first is in England. The new plant is expected to annually produce 150,000 newly developed small passenger cars with engine displacements of between 1,000cc and 1,300cc, beginning in 2001. A diesel engine version will also be available.
Shinji Sakai, Toyota executive director, said the new vehicle is designed as a "strategic model" that will hopefully increase its European market share from 3 percent to 5 percent. "We received invitations from many European countries," Sakai said in Tokyo. "But we decided on this site after considering production convenience and the market potential (for this segment of cars)."