Toyota to form JV in China for producing key systems fuel-cell vehicles

Toyota Motor Corp and Beijing SinoHytec Co will set up the 50-50 venture, Toyota Sinohytec Fuel Cell Co, with a total investment of about $72.8 million to manufacture key systems for fuel-cell vehicles.

Operations are set to start in 2023 with an initial production capacity of 3,000 units a year of fuel-cell components.

The Japanese automaker and Chinese fuel-cell maker, which signed a contract Monday, are engaged in research and development activities on fuel-cell buses.

The new venture will be located in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, a hub for high-end manufacturing in the Chinese capital.

Last August, Toyota and five other companies formed a joint venture dubbed United Fuel Cell System R&D (Beijing) Co. to develop systems for fuel-cell vehicles.

The Toyota Sinohytec Fuel Cell venture is designed to manufacture and sell these systems.