Toyota Completes Expansion of R&D Base in Belgium

Tokyo , Jan 25, 2006 (JCN) - Toyota Motor Corporation announced January 25 that expansion of the Toyota Motor Europe S.A./N.V (TME) Technical Centre in Zaventem, Belgium, has been completed.

As part of its continuing localization of European design and engineering operations to better meet the needs of its customers in Europe, the Toyota Motor Europe S.A./N.V (TME) Technical Centre in Zaventem, Belgium.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, TME Executive Vice President Alan Jones and other officials took part in a ceremony at the center today marking the expansion.

Capping off an effort that began in early 2004, the newly expanded TME Technical Centre has grown nearly 2.5 times in floor space, greatly enlarging both its office and experiment facilities.

The expansion-aimed at strengthening Toyota's product-development competitiveness in the diversifying European market-means that the center will now handle body engineering for all Toyota models to be produced in Europe, as well as diesel engine evaluation for all Toyota models to be sold in Europe.

The expansion represents an additional investment by Toyota in the TME Technical Centre of 75 million euros (or about 9.7 billion yen at 130 yen to the euro) and includes plans for the creation of approximately 200 more jobs.

The TME Technical Centre covers the European side of Toyota's worldwide body and major component design and evaluation efforts; Toyota also operates technical centers in these key markets: Asia, North America, Oceania and Japan.

By Jun Ota, JCN Staff Writer