Lujiazui area in Shanghai Photo:Xinhua
Toyota Motor Corp will launch a wholly owned company in Shanghai,
MKS sports the company said in a press release on Wednesday, marking another key milestone in China's auto industry as the Japanese carmaker becomes the latest foreign motor vehicle producer to make such a move, following Tesla.
Toyota will sign a comprehensive partnership agreement with the Shanghai Municipal Government regarding carbon neutrality, and it has decided to establish a new wholly owned company in Jinshan District in Shanghai to develop and produce battery electric vehicles (BEV) and batteries, according to the press release on its website.
The newly formed company will develop a new BEV under the Lexus brand, with production scheduled to begin from 2027 onwards. The initial production capacity will be about 100,000 units per year, and approximately 1,000 new jobs are planned for the start-up phase. The company highlighted potential cooperation fields such as hydrogen energy, automated driving technology, and battery recycling and reuse, read the press release.
Toyota's decision fully demonstrated China's attractiveness to foreign investment, and Shanghai welcomes global investors, including Japanese companies, to invest in Shanghai, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday.
The commission said that it will continue to deepen the implementation of corresponding policies to expand opening-up, and create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, while helping foreign firms solve practical problems and providing more high-quality, efficient and targeted services.
Toyota is just the latest example of foreign carmakers stepping up investment in Shanghai. Tesla, which already operates a Gigafactory in Shanghai, is reportedly set to commission another plant in the city.
The construction of Tesla's Shanghai Megapack energy storage plant was completed at the end of 2024 after just seven months, and the US tech giant is planning to launch a commissioning ceremony in the factory on February 11, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.
The factory's production capacity is expected to ramp up in the first quarter of 2025, according to the report, citing information from the company.
Shanghai has the major advantages of an open business environment, a complete supply chain, and convenient logistics as an important port, Wu Shuocheng, a veteran automobile industry analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
When it comes to the country's overall strengths for attracting foreign vehicle firms, Wu highlighted China's vast market, leading technological advancements in the industry and supply chains, as well as relatively affordable labor costs and skilled talent as the main driving factors.
Global auto giants' expansion in China will be conducive to elevating and optimizing the domestic industries with their advanced technologies and concepts, while offering more job opportunities and generating more income for Chinese localities, Wu said.
China has been making continuous efforts to bolster high-quality opening-up. A total of 59,080 new foreign-invested firms were established across China in 2024, an increase of 9.9 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Commerce said in January.
Global Times
