Daihatsu will expand 2005 output

Daihatsu will expand 2005 output

Naoko Fujimura, Bloomberg, Tokyo

Daihatsu Motor Co., Japan's second-biggest maker of vehicles with engines smaller than 0.66 liter, said it will expand global production by 5.8 percent this year to 1.11 million units to meet increasing overseas demand.

The maker of Mira minicars will expand overseas production by a quarter to 274,000 units this year, expanding in Indonesia and Malaysia. The carmaker, 51 percent owned by Toyota Motor Corp., said it will introduce its first gasoline-electric minicar this year.

"It's another important year for Daihatsu, expanding out business based on the foundation we have built from last year," Daihatsu's President Takaya Yamada said.

Daihatsu, based in western Japan's Osaka Prefecture, has relied on the technology and distribution network of Toyota, the world's second-largest carmaker, to expand its sales, especially in Asia's so-called emerging markets. The carmaker's exports from Japan may grow 2.6 percent to 689,000 units in 2005, Daihatsu said.

Daihatsu's 2005 growth focus may be in Indonesia, where the carmaker is planning to increase production by 40 percent to 140,000 units. Daihatsu's Xenia cars are sold as the Toyota Avanza model by PT Astra International Tbk.

The carmaker, which owns a stake in Malaysia's second-largest carmaker Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn. Bhd., or Perodua, is planning to produce a new vehicle model in the country this year. Daihatsu did not say which model it will be.

Daihatsu's 2005 Japan production will expand 0.8 percent to 836,000 vehicles, and the carmaker is aiming to increase its share of the country's minicar market to 30 percent from 29.7 percent.

Daihatsu made 1.05 million vehicles last year, 22 percent more than 2003. The company's 2004 production in Japan rose 16 percent to 829,500 units while its overseas output surged 54 percent to 219,200 units.

Daihatsu's shares rose 0.1 percent to 812 yen at 12:55 p.m. on the Tokyo stock exchange.