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Reuters

Toyota Motor Corp is ending a three-year freeze on building  vehicle assembly plants and is looking to open two   factories in China and one  in Mexico, four executives  said.
The Japanese carmaker has completed initial feasibility studies in both  countries, according to the executives, and "the teams are ready to execute".
Jim Lentz, the head of Toyota's North American operations, said on Monday that after "a three-year hold" on new capacity investments, the standstill was over for Toyota. 
Lentz, who spoke on the sidelines of the Detroit car show, would not comment on specific plans to add production capacity in Mexico or China.
"We're going to grow again. We will climb the staircase," he said.  "But it's a different way than in the past. It's not going to be growth for growth's sake."
Toyota's Chinese operations are evaluating plans to build two assembly plants - one in  Changchun, Jilin province, and the  other in Guangzhou, Guangdong, where the company already produces cars.
 In Mexico, Toyota was looking at a site for a passenger car plant in and around the central state of Guanajuato, people familiar with the plans said.
"The only thing we are waiting for is a final green light from the top," said one of the executives who is a senior manager in China. 
A renewed expansion drive by Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, would put more pressure on rivals in a global vehicle  marketplace still burdened by excess capacity.
 With demand in the United States back at pre-recession levels and China's car market growing, albeit more slowly, manufacturers are announcing more expansion plans.
Toyota's top decision-makers, including president Akio Toyoda, decided  this month to lift the three-year freeze on new capacity expansion, people familiar with the decision said. 
The freeze was supposed to expire at the end of  March next year.  
 Toyota's decision to lift the expansion ban follows a last-minute review at the end of last year of plans to add  production capacity in Mexico and presumably China.
 Momentum had been building for a decision last summer on the expansion, but Toyoda then asked the team to "re-examine" the project, the sources  said.
Toyoda at the time was especially concerned whether the company had exhausted all the existing manufacturing capacity before deciding to add new assemblies.
Company officials cautioned that adding new assembly lines in Mexico and China could be offset as Toyota renovates or closes older factories as part of an overhaul of its production systems.
Toyota  operates  eight assembly lines in China.  


Toyota to resume assembly plant expansion

Toyota Motor Corp plans to open two more assembly plants on the Chinese mainland, bringing the number of factories there to 10, as the country's car market is growing. Photo: Reuters

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Japanese carmaker plans more factories in China and Mexico in end to freeze on expansion


New | Toyota to resume assembly plant expansion

Japanese carmaker plans more factories in China and Mexico in end to freeze on expansion