§ Lord Kimballasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their view of a possible investment in Europe by the Toyota Motor Corporation.
§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Lord Young of Graffham)Toyota have for some time been considering setting up a car manufacturing plant in the European Community and have engaged consultants to help them assess the options. The Government believe that at this stage the UK is the lead candidate as a location for the project. Feasibility studies are in hand based on a plant producing up to 200,000 cars a year, with a local (EC) content level rising after a transitional period to 80 per cent. The project would create up to 3,000 direct jobs.
I have made it clear to Toyota that they would receive a warm welcome from the Government if they were to decide to locate the project in the UK, and I have invited them to work closely with my department in pursuing their feasibility studies.