Toyota Motor Corp., the automaker most affected by the March 11 disaster, plans to build a new engine plant in devastated Miyagi Prefecture and will transfer a subsidiary's production operations to the region.
Toyota Motor Tohoku Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary, will start building the new engine plant within a few years in Miyagi as car production ramps up at auto plants owned by the carmaker in Ohira, Miyagi and nearby Iwate Prefecture, said Managing Director Kozo Sakurai.
"This kind of disaster occurs only once in a thousand years," Sakurai said in an interview at Toyota Tohoku's plant in Taiwa, Miyagi, which makes antilock brake systems, axles and suspensions. "Earthquake risk is now higher for regions that haven't yet been hit, so this is actually a chance for the Miyagi region."