(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-03 16:32

TOKYO - Japanese auto giant Toyota is considering building a new plant in China to boost its presence in the country's rapidly growing car market, the Nikkei reported Saturday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda (2nd L) is seen inspecting an assembly plant of Toyota Motors in Tianjin, in December 2007, during his visit to China. [Agencies]

Toyota Motor Corp is studying a plan to build a new assembly factory in Changchun, Jilin Province, with an annual production capacity estimated at 100,000 units, the business daily said.

It would likely invest 50 billion yen (US$469 million) to construct the plant, with operations expected to begin in the early 2010s, the newspaper said.

Toyota already operates a small assembly facility in Changchun, but the factory would be its first full-fledged plant in the city, and its eighth assembly base in China.

The Corolla sub-compact is among the candidates for assembly at the plant, which would be jointly operated with China's top automaker, FAW Group Corp, the report said.

Auto sales in China reached roughly 8.6 million last year, making it the world's second-largest market. Toyota is rapidly increasing output in an attempt to gain a 10 percent share.

Toyota opened a Corolla factory in Tianjin last year, and its new Guangzhou facility is slated to begin operating next year.

With the latest project, Toyota seeks to bring its annual local output to one million units, making China its third-largest production base after Japan and the United States, the Nikkei said.