The Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. announced Tuesday it will start assembling some 15,000 units of Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) Fortuner per year in Indonesia for export to the Middle East.

The Fortuner will be produced by its local unit PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing starting in October, the local news wire Antara reported, quoting an executive with the company.

"The production of the Fortuner will need an investment of 48 billion rupiah (around 5.1 million U.S. dollars)," Toyota Indonesia Corporate Public Relation Irwan Priyantoko said.

He added the car would be exported to the Middle East countries starting from next November.

Launched in Indonesia on July last year, the SUV car was previously imported from Thailand.

Source: Xinhua