In the area of advancing localization, TMC increased overseas production significantly by expanding the capacity of existing plants and aggressively bringing new plants online. .

The Toyota Yaris,
forseen for production in Europe

• Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK) (from 400,000 units/year to 500,000 units/year) and
• Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC) (from 100,000 units/year to 200,000 units/year), new plants such as
• Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc. (TMMI) and
• Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia, Inc. (TMMWV) were brought online, increasing annual production capacity from 900,000 units in 1994 to 1.2 million units in 1998 (total production capacity is expected to increase to 1.25 million units/year in 2000).

In Europe, Toyota Motor Manufacturing France S.A.S. (TMMF) was established in France in November 1998. It is scheduled to go into operation in 2001, with an annual production target of 150,000 units of the Yaris, a strategic vehicle for the European market. In Asia as well, where economic stagnation has been continuing, TMC established a supply structure in anticipation of market recovery, starting up second plants in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan

Britain and BMW agreed ``in principle on the size and nature'' of government financing that secure production of a new medium-sized car at the Rover Longbridge plant in Birmingham, England, according to a joint statement from BMW and the government.

The statement gave no specific figures and said the agreement still needed approval from the board of directors of BMW AG as well as EU authorities.

Prof. Saemann,
head of Rover Group

BMW had asked for more than $324 million from the government. Although the government increased its opening offer of $190 million, the final amount is thought to be short of what the German firm wanted.