Toyota Motor to expand to China

Toyota Motor to expand to China

TOKYO: Top Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. plans to increase its affiliated dealerships in China sixfold to about 600 by 2008, a news report said on Monday.

The move is a part of the company's effort to grab a 10 percent market share in China by 2010, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said without citing sources.

Toyota will support the new dealerships through the joint sales firm that it established last November with China FAW Group Corp, the Nihon Keizai said.

Its rival Nissan Motor Co. also expects to quadruple its dealerships in China by 2007, the Nihon Keizai said, adding that Japanese automakers are starting to strengthen their sales networks in the expanding Chinese auto market.

Toyota currently has slightly more than 100 dealerships in China mostly located in large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and sold roughly 100,000 vehicles there in 2003 for a market share of about two percent, it said.

Toyota also plans to beef up its marketing efforts in the world's most populous country, the Nihon Keizai said. -- AFP