Toyota to expand Russia lineup with U.S.-made Venza
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(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. will expand its model lineups in Russia and Ukraine by adding the U.S.-built Venza to the mix. The world's largest automaker will begin shipments of the wagon later this year as a way to generate added revenue for its U.S. operations.
Production of a version of the Camry sedan-based Venza for Russia and Ukraine starts in April, Toyota said in an e-mailed statement today.
The initial goal is to export a combined 5,000 units annually to those markets, the company said.
The Venza project helps "further solidify our U.S. manufacturing base," Shigeki Terashi, Toyota's North American president and chief operating officer, said in the statement.
Toyota said it exported more than 124,000 U.S.-built vehicles to global markets in 2012, up 45 percent from a year earlier and a company record.
Toyota began shipping Venzas to South Korea last year following exports of Camrys to that market in an effort to maximize use of North American factories and blunt the impact of a strong yen.
Japan's Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are likewise expanding overseas shipments of North American-produced autos three decades after opening plants in the region to meet U.S. demand.
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