Toyota to Raise Domestic Capacity for Lexus Luxury Vehicle

TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp plans to hike production capacity for its Lexus luxury vehicles by about 35 percent, to 850,000 units a year in 2009, to deal with rising demand in emerging markets, according to www.money.cnn.com. With the move, the company aims to boost exports of luxury vehicles to emerging markets, such as Russia and China. Toyota now makes Lexuses at its Tahara plant, in Aichi Prefecture, and at Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc.’s Miyata facility, in Fukuoka Prefecture, for a combined capacity of more than 600,000 units a year.

Toyota aims to lift global Lexus sales to 530,000 units in 2008 from 518,000 units last year.