Toyota announces US$53 million assembly plant in Thilawa

Toyota announces US$53 million assembly plant in Thilawa

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced today that it will establish Toyota Myanmar Co Ltd (TMY) as its first vehicle production company in Myanmar, where it will locally produce the Hilux from February 2021.

Toyota currently sells the Hilux, Vios, Rush, and other vehicles in Myanmar by relying on imports, but will establish TMY at the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Yangon in June this year.

Investment is expected to amount to US$52.6 million. It intends to assemble around 2500 Hilux vehicles using the semi knock-down (SKD) method and will hire around 130 employees.

Toyota will hold an 85 percent stake in TMY, while its trading arm, Toyota Tsusho Corporation will hold the remaining 15pc.

In its announcement, Toyota said it will “promote initiatives that will allow even more customers to choose Toyota vehicles, in preparation for a market that promises to continue expanding steadily, in accordance with the growth of the economy.”

In 2018, more than 18000 new vehicles were sold in Myanmar, which is 2.1 times more than the previous year’s, Toyota said.