Toyota to build 3 India plants, tripling output in country

TOYOTA Motor plans to build three vehicle assembly plants in Maharashtra as automakers shift focus to emerging markets from stagnating ones such as the United States and China, the Nikkei newspaper said on Friday.

The new facilities will triple production capacity for the world’s biggest automaker to 1 million units in India by the 2030s, with a total estimated investment of 300 billion yen ($1.9 billion), the paper said.

In a statement, Toyota said it had not decided on the construction of a new factory, although it was constantly reviewing production arrangements, working in partnership with other stakeholders in every region where it operates.

Investments in India running into billions of dollars by Toyota, Honda and Suzuki signal the South Asian nation’s growing importance as a manufacturing hub, Reuters reported last year.

The new plants will bring Toyota’s tally of factories in India to six, the paper said, with three existing facilities in the south that primarily cater to the domestic market. The new plants will also handle exports, it added.

Toyota has a production capacity of 3.1 million units in Japan, 2.2 million in China and 1.5 million in the United States, says Japanese research company Fourin.

The three new plants will make India its fourth-largest production base, the Nikkei said, adding that Toyota would also produce plug-in hybrid vehicles for environmentally conscious consumers.

Toyota is set to report results on May 8 for the financial year ending March 2026.