Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. will invest a combined $1.2 billion to expand production in Latin America amid growing regional and export demand.
Toyota is spending $600 million on a new car plant in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, the company said in a statement, and Nissan is spending the same amount to expand Mexican production to build three new models, Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said Thursday in Mexico City.
Mexican vehicle production more than doubled in June from a year earlier as the country exported a record number of vehicles, mostly to the U.S. and Europe. Earlier this month, General Motors Co. said sales in Brazil may surge 68 percent to 1 million vehicles by 2014 as growth in Latin America's largest economy stokes demand.