Toyota Motor Corp will freeze construction plans for new factories in Russia and Thailand amid slumping demand, the Sankei newspaper reported, citing an unnamed company official.
Toyota in June said it planned to invest $155 million (5.4 billion baht) to build the new Thai factory for diesel engines used in pickup trucks in 2010.
The company in December 2007 opened a $170 million (5 billion-ruble) Camry sedan assembly factory near St Petersburg, Russia. Toyota at the time said it planned to build 20,000 cars in 2008 at the facility.
Toyota will freeze plans to build a second plant at the location, originally scheduled to begin operations in early 2010, after production at the existing factory fell short of its forecast, the report said.
Plunging demand in the US, the world’s biggest auto market, contributed to Toyota on December 22 forecasting its first operating loss since 1938. Toyota forecast a $1.6 billion (¥150 billion) operating loss, calculated on sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, in the year ending March 31, compared with an earlier outlook for ¥600 billion profit.
