Toyota to invest $700m in R&D base

Toyota will invest nearly US$700 million in a fully fledged research and development base in China. The facility will be built at the economic development zone in Changshu (the name propitiously means "a place of all time harvest") near Shanghai.

The company plans to invest US$689 million to buy the land, build research facilities and add a test track. The base should be operational by the beginning of next year.

SteelGuru reports the company plans to expand the number of employees from an initial 200 to 1,000.