Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build engines and small hybrid cars in the Tohoku region as the company strengthens its production hub in the area.
The automaker, the world's largest maker of gasoline-electric vehicles, will start making small hybrid models at affiliate Kanto Auto Works Ltd.'s plant in Iwate Prefecture, Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi told reporters Tuesday in Sendai.
Toyota will also spend ¥2 billion to build a factory at affiliate Toyota Motor Tohoku with capacity to make 100,000 engines a year, he said.