Second Toyota Model to Double St. Petersburg Capacity

VIENNA – Toyota Motor Mfg. Russia will launch production of the Toyota RAV4 cross/utility vehicle at its plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2016.

The RAV4 will be the second Toyota model to be assembled at the site after the Camry sedan. Annual production capacity at TMMR will double from the current 50,000 units to about 100,000.

Plans call for an investment of about ¥18 billion ($181 million) in the plant’s expansion. The auto maker, which currently employs 1,600 workers, will hire some 800 new employees.

In Russia, the RAV4 is Toyota's bestselling vehicle, with sales of 26,931 units through August, up 44.3% from like-2012. It is the country’s fourth best-selling CUV after the Renault Duster, Chevrolet Niva and Lada 4x4 and accounts for more than 26% of Toyota-brand sales in Russia.

“Since its launch in Russia in 2002, the RAV4 has been extremely well received by Russian consumers,” Didier Leroy, president-Toyota Motor Europe, says in a statement.

TMMR, which launched output in December 2007, assembles the Camry from complete-knocked-down kits. Last year, the auto maker built 28,282 Camrys, double the 14,136 units made in 2011.

In February 2012, Toyota announced it would add stamping and resin-molding operations in St. Petersburg in 2014.

In addition to the Toyota plant in St. Petersburg, the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado since February has been assembled in Vladivostok from semi-knocked-down kits by Sollers-Bussan, a 50-50 JV between Russian auto maker Sollers and Japanese trading house Mitsui.

Toyota sold 101,431 light vehicles in Russia through August, down 3.5% from like-2012. The brand ranks seventh in sales in Russia. Deliveries of Lexus luxury-brand vehicles increased 4.3% to 10,204.