Toyota In China
Toyota plans to increase its production at its Chinese plants in Guangzhou and Tianjin by about 20 per cent, according to sources within and close to the company. The Japanese carmaker will boost its production number by a combined 240,000 vehicles per year in its two Chinese manufacturing facilities in Guangzhou and Tianjin. Toyota cars production capacity in China is 1.16 million vehicles per year. The new report follows the news that Toyota aims to build 10,000 all-electric cars and 110,000 plug-in hybrid models in Tianjin on an annual basis.
The Chinese government has said that it will remove foreign ownership caps for manufacturers that build fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars in 2018, for manufacturers of commercial vehicles in 2020, and for the wider car market by 2022. Toyota’s planned production increase in Guangzhou is also for electrified cars.
Magna Steyr Mulling American Plant
Magna Steyr believes its Austrian facility will turn out roughly 200,000 vehicles in 2018. But with so many projects, that might not be enough. Magna Steyr chief executive Don Walker appeared open to a North American plant: “We get a lot of requests. It’s typically a unique vehicle or a peak volume. But I think that if we had a plant here we’d be getting a lot of business.” He said this at the firm’s Graz factory.
According to Walker, the site in Graz is fast approaching full capacity, but the company would need new customers to justify the cost of a second factory.
“We’re over capacity in the next couple of years as we continue to launch new vehicles. If we continue to get business over at Magna Steyr, then we would expand to a second location. It’s a possibility that we continue to look at.”
Even if Magna Steyr opted against building a second factory and instead took over an existing one in North America, it would still be very expensive. In fact, Walker said that a new body shop and general assembly line would almost have to be constructed to suit the needs of Steyr. Currently Steyr does contract assembly for Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes Benz and other key brands.
Tesla To Unveil EV Hatch in 2022
Electric vehicle pioneer Elon Musk has said that Tesla is likely to build a compact electric car “within the next five years”. This announcement comes at a time when the company is still struggling to keep its production deadlines for the Model 3. However, this late-2022 rival to Volkswagen’s upcoming I.D. electric car is probably key to Tesla fully establishing itself as a global car manufacturer in the long term.
The compact Tesla electric is scheduled to be made in the brand’s new facility in Shanghai – which was confirmed by the local government, last month – alongside the forthcoming Model Y crossover. The factory’s production capacity of 5,00,000 cars per year suggests that Tesla expects both models to have significant market potential.
Tesla will arrive relatively late to the compact EV game, though. Volkswagen plans to start the factory roll-out of the I.D. Electric in 2020. Tesla will expect to have a significant competitive advantage – the lower cost of its home-grown battery packs.