A visitor looks at Toyota model cars at the 21st Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in east China's Shanghai, May 1, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation on Friday broke ground on a new Lexus-brand electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in east China's Shanghai Municipality.

The plant, located in Jinshan District, will also include a battery research and production base. Production is scheduled to begin in 2027, with an initial production capacity of approximately 100,000 units per year.

Jiang Juwang, director of the investment promotion office in Jinshan District, said that although Jinshan is not an established automotive hub, its location at the geometric center of the Yangtze River Delta enables it to link parts suppliers, R&D centers and Shanghai-based autonomous driving companies.

This "one-hour supply chain radius" allows Toyota to achieve localized procurement for its core production processes, Jiang noted.

The entire process to date took just over two months, from the signature of a strategic cooperation agreement between the Shanghai Municipal Government and Toyota on April 22, as well as a memorandum of cooperation between the Jinshan District Government and Toyota China, to the official commencement of construction.