ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 15 (UPI) -- Japanese carmaker Toyota has laid the foundation stone for an assembly plant outside St. Petersburg, Russia.
Toyota plans to invest $140.5 million in the facility, becoming the first Japanese car manufacturer to build a Russian assembly plant, The Moscow Times reported Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who attended the ceremony along with Russian and Japanese officials, said he was sure that "the production of St. Petersburg's Toyota will find a wide audience."
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who also attended the ceremony, said, "If this project is successful, other Japanese businesses will keep coming to Russia."
The plant will have the initial capacity to produce 50,000 cars annually, including the popular Camry. Construction is set to begin next year, after reinforcement of the soil is completed, and production is scheduled to begin in 2007.
Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Toyota's board, vowed that the plant would "soon" produce 200,000 vehicles a year.
Sales of new foreign cars in Russia grew by more than 80 percent to 350,000 cars last year, and that number is expected to rise another 40 percent in 2005.
