Toyota Motor Corp. will begin manufacturing and selling its Prius hybrid in Thailand next month, the automaker's local unit said Thursday.
- Toyota's local unit on Thursday announced plans to make and sell the Prius in Thailand.
Thailand will become the third country where the Prius is made, after Japan and China. Thai output will be sold locally and is expected at 8,400 to 12,000 cars a year, according to Toyota Motor Thailand Co.
The company will import batteries, motors and other key components from Japan free of duties as part of a deal with the Thai government, which is waiving the usual 5% tariff to attract foreign hybrid makers. After tax incentives, a Thai-made Prius will sell for around 1.3 million baht, or about 3.5 million yen, the company says.
The Prius will be the second Toyota hybrid made in Thailand. Production of a hybrid version of the Camry sedan began here last year.
In January, Thailand and five other founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations eliminated tariffs on cars imported from each other, on the condition that at least 40% of the parts are procured locally. Thai-made Priuses are likely to contain a far lower proportion of local parts, and Toyota plans to sell them only in Thailand for the time being.
No comments:
Post a Comment