Toyota China JV 2nd line boosts capacity by 80 pct

SHANGHAI May 25 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Monday its second assembly line in a car venture in south China had started operations, boosting the venture's annual production capacity by 80 percent to 360,000 units.

The assembly line at Guangzhou Toyota, its tie-up with Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group, involved total investment of 4.26 billion yuan ($624.3 million), it said in a statement.

Toyota has stated making its Highlander sport utility vehicle at the new assembly line to help diversify its line-up at the plant, which also makes mid-sized Camry sedans and Yaris compact models, the statement added.

The top Japanese car maker said in June last year the new production line would have an annual capacity of 120,000 vehicles initially, rising to 200,000 units in the future, making Camry cars.

Toyota also runs a car venture with FAW Group making Crown, Vios and Reiz models.

($1=6.823 Yuan) (Reporting by Fang Yan and Jacqueline Wong) (For summit blog: blogs.reuters.com/summits/)