NAGOYA, June 5 (Kyodo) — Toyoda Iron Works Co., an auto parts maker affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp., plans to invest about 1.2 billion yen to build a new plant to produce molds in Indonesia, company officials said Tuesday.
The new plant in Karawang is scheduled to start operation next year, and the company aims to reduce manufacturing costs by about 30 percent compared to those in Japan, the officials said.
At the new plant, Toyoda Iron Works plans to produce precision molds which will be employed in press work to form auto components, with many of them expected to be equipped on Toyota cars, the officials said.
Though precision molds have been produced in Japan and other areas, it has become necessary for the company to localize production to make low-priced cars for emerging markets, while the vehicle output in Indonesia is expected to grow.
The company plans to hire about 60 employees at the Karawang plant. It is also considering exporting the products to Japan and North America in the future, the officials said.