Toyota Puts a 2029 Date on a Bangladesh Hybrid Factory
The company says construction could begin in 2027, although it has not disclosed the site, investment amount or planned production capacity.
Dhaka — A Toyota group company has told the prime minister it wants to manufacture hybrid cars in Bangladesh, not only sell them. Work on the plant is pencilled in for 2027. Cars are not expected off the line until 2029.
The briefing happened on Tuesday at the Secretariat. Ichiro Kashitani, vice chairman of Toyota Tsusho, brought the proposal to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. With him were the head of Toyota Tsusho's mobility business, Shigeru Harada, and the chief of Toyota Bangladesh, Premmit Singh. On the government bench were the commerce minister, the finance and planning adviser, and the state minister for foreign affairs.
What was described is a factory inside an economic zone, badged with the slogan "With Bangladesh, For Bangladesh." The visitors also said they want Toyota showrooms, parts and workshops in every division, not only in the cities they already cover. Toyota Bangladesh is wholly owned by the Japanese parent and its Asia-Pacific arm, and the group already has a liaison office in Dhaka. A 2025 reshuffle pushed the local company toward handling delivery, spare parts and servicing itself. A hybrid plant would be a bigger jump: from importing vehicles to building them.
Several things were not said. There was no dollar figure, no named site, and no target for how many cars a year. Job numbers and the size of any training scheme were also left out. The 2027 date is for starting the project, not for the first sale. Full production is the 2029 aim. The company did say it wants vocational courses for young workers, on the argument that a factory needs people who can build, maintain and supply cars, not only sell them.
Rahman welcomed the idea. He told the delegation the government wants a steadier climate for local and foreign capital, and that investors who come in can expect policy help and infrastructure. He also nudged Toyota Tsusho toward waste-to-energy and renewable power, and said Dhaka would assist if the company looked at those businesses. That matches work the group already does abroad. It is not a second project.
The promise lands in a thin week for investment news. The World Bank, in an update issued the same day, thinks growth stays around 3.4% this fiscal year and next, with private investment down and factories short of gas and power. A named Japanese manufacturer talking about a plant three years out is a brighter line in that report. It does not repair the banks or the energy system. It does suggest at least one long-term investor is still discussing factories.
The date only means something once the missing pieces are public: which zone, how much of the car is actually made here rather than bolted together from imported kits, and whether the grid can run a production line. Until then it is a timetable, not a factory.