Toyota plans air bag plants in Vietnam

Toyota plans air bag plants in Vietnam

HANOI: Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. will invest more than US$38.2 million in two factories in Vietnam to make air bags for domestic and export use, the company said on Monday.

The two plants will be built in the northeastern port city of Haiphong and are due to be operational in October next year.

Toyota Motor Vietnam, which is the largest foreign-invested automaker in the communist nation, said $38.2 million would be invested in the smaller of the two factories, which would have 317 employees by the end of 2009.

It declined to say how much it was investing in the second plant but said it would have 1,200 employees in 2007.

The company said in a statement that the new investments reaffirm its "long-term business commitment to further contributing to the development of Vietnam's economy in general and the automobile industry in particular". -- AFP