Toyota Motor Corporation and its subsidiary Daihatsu announced their plan to create a new company that will focus on compact vehicles aimed specifically to emerging markets.
The new company will be created in January 2017, with Daihatsu bringing their small car expertise to the table and Toyota providing knowledge and resources, according to their common official statement.
Despite Daihatsu expected to take the lead in this new internal company, a spokesman told AutoNews that the future models will be offered under the Toyota brand. In fact the new company is going to be positioned differently from the other companies under Toyota’s umbrella.
“With the establishment of the internal company, Toyota intends to learn the very fundamentals of Daihatsu’s competitiveness and change the way we work,” said Shigeki Terashi, Toyota’s Executive Vice President.
“We will further advance our knowhow cultivated in the manufacturing of minivehicles and be a Toyota Group driving force, not only for minivehicles, but also for compact vehicles for emerging markets,” added Daihatsu President Masanori Mitsui. “For Daihatsu, this initiative represents an important opportunity for enormous and sustainable growth.”
The new venture comes as Toyota wants to have a stronger presence in regions like the Latin America, India and countries like Russia. Despite some of the emerging markets suffering from recent slowdowns, automakers still see them as key areas that will aid significantly in their sales volumes.
Note: Toyota Aygo pictured
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