Toyota May Build More Factories in North America

Toyota Motor Corp., which has broken its U.S. sales record for nine consecutive years, said it planned to expand production capacity in North America.

Toyota plans to add two assembly factories in North America by 2010, in addition to one planned for next year, for a total of eight plants as it attempts to boost sales in the world’s largest auto market and challenge General Motors Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing company executives it didn’t name.

“We will need a new production base to meet our aim of increasing sales, but no concrete plans have been decided,” Toyota said in a statement. The company declined to comment on the report.

Toyota has said it will decide as early as this year on increasing North American production capacity.

Toyota, the world’s second-biggest automaker, reached sales of 2 million vehicles in the U.S. last year. The automaker expects sales of 2.15 million units this year.

The automaker wants to raise worldwide car and truck sales to 8.5 million in 2006 from about 8 million this year and plans to add North American capacity as sales grow. The company, which increased U.S. sales 10% in 2004, this month opened its fifth North American assembly plant in Tijuana to build pickup trucks and next year will add a pickup factory in Texas.