Toyota opens second plant in Karawang, Indonesia

Toyota Motor Corporation’s (TMC) vehicle production subsidiary in Indonesia, PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN), held a grand opening ceremony to celebrate its second plant in Karawang.
Plant 2 Karawang, adjacent to the existing Plant 1 Karawang, will produce the Etios Valco, a compact hatchback developed specifically for Indonesian consumers.
Guests at the ceremony included the Indonesian Minister of Industry H.E. Mohamad S. Hidayat and Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Yoshinori Katori. TMC Senior Managing Officer Takahiro Iwase and TMMIN President Masahiro Nonami were also in attendance.
At the ceremony, Iwase said, “Toyota positions Indonesia as an important production base. Proactively increasing our capacity here is proof of Indonesia’s growing importance. We also plan to develop Indonesia as an auto export base. TMMIN’s Karawang plants have become indispensable to the future growth of global Toyota.”
Nonami, speaking of his goals for Toyota in Indonesia, said, “The opening of this new plant is the newest chapter in Toyota’s commitment to the development of Indonesia.” The plant, he said, “incorporates advanced production technology, designed to be both eco-friendly and worker friendly, including many ideas from our Indonesian employees.”
Initial production capacity at Plant 2 Karawang is approximately 70,000 units per year. So far, nearly US$338 million has been invested and 1,100 new jobs have been created. With plans to increase production capacity to 120,000 units at the beginning of next year, total annual production, in combination with production at Plant 1 Karawang, is expected to exceed 250,000 units a year.
Last year, the automobile market in Indonesia passed the 1-million unit mark for the first time, with Toyota sales in the country exceeding 400,000 units for the first time. Moreover, Indonesia’s importance as a production and supply base is growing. A total of 60,000 units of the Kijang Innova mini-van and the Fortuner SUV were exported from TMMIN to ASEAN and Middle Eastern countries last year.
(March 15, 2013)