Daihatsu to raise exports

Daihatsu to raise exports

TOKYO (Reuter): Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd. forecast that exports of kit parts will reach 263,000 sets in calendar 1996, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier, mainly due to higher demand in Indonesia and Malaysia, an executive said.

Senior managing director Toshio Yoshioka told a news conference yesterday that of the total, exports of kit parts to Indonesia should rise 14 percent from last year to 43,000 sets, while those to Malaysia should increase 25 percent to 52,000, Yoshioka said.

Also, production at Tianjin Automobile Industrial Corp in Tianjin, China, is estimated at 120,000 units in 1996, slightly down from 122,000 last year, he said.

Tianjin Automobile assembles Daihatsu-designed one liter- engined Charade cars and Hijet commercial vehicles under Daihatsu's technical assistance.

Chinese sales of Tianjin-made Charades are estimated at over 70,000 units in 1996, up from 65,000 a year earlier, and Daihatsu and Tianjin hope annual sales reach 100,000 Charades as soon as possible, Yoshioka said.