Toyota Motor Corp. is exploring whether to export its U.S. pickup and sport-utility vehicles to other countries, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The Japanese auto maker, which produces the Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV, is looking at other markets around the world, although no decision has been made, Steve St. Angelo, president of Toyota's Manufacturing Kentucky Inc., was quoted as saying.
Toyota, like rivals Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., is
finding it difficult to sell the larger vehicles as gas prices hover near the 4-dollar mark, said the report.
Toyota, which imports about 30 percent of the vehicles it sells in the United States, joins a growing list of companies that are considering exporting products given the weak dollar.
Chrysler LLC is already exporting a significant number of vehicles from a car plant in Illinois, and GM is making plans to export from several U.S. plants.
Later this year, GM will begin shipping the Buick Enclave, a seven-passenger crossover SUV made in Lansing, Mich., to China, where the Buick brand is a big seller. GM hopes eventually to export as many as 25,000 Enclaves a year to China.
Germany's Volkswagen AG plans to build a plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., and sell the cars it produces in several markets outside the United States.
Source:Xinhua
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