Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. Monday marked the first delivery of sport utility vehicle Fortuner to Middle East countries from its Indonesian plant.

The initial shipment from its local assembly plant PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN) covers only 700 units, but the company plans to increase the figure to some 10,000 units a year.

The Indonesian branch is taking over production and delivery of Fortuner from Thailand, said TMMIN president Hidematsu Ibaragi.

Apart from Fortuner, TMMIN also announced the plan to expand the export of multi-purpose vehicle Avanza, a collaborated product by Toyota and Daihatsu first introduced here in 2003.

With greater market for Avanza, Toyota seeks to increase the export of the seven-seater car to 22,000 units a year from the current 2,000, Ibaragi said.

Also present in the first Fortuner export ceremony at the TMMIN factory was Industry Minister Fahmi Idris, who said Indonesia's export of completely built up motor vehicles was set to increase by 68 percent to 30,000 units in the year supported by Toyota sales.

CBU car export from Indonesia soared by 69 percent to 23,825 units in 10 months ending October this year from 14,097 units in the corresponding period last year, the minister said.

Source: Xinhua