Toyota to build new budget car

The vehicle will be based on the "iQ" prototype that the Japanese automaker exhibited at this month's Frankfurt auto show, the Nikkei business newspaper said, without citing its sources.

Measuring just 2.98 metres long, the iQ is around 80 centimetres shorter than Toyota's Yaris subcompact, it said.

The car is expected to carry up to four people and have a one-litre-class engine, with the price yet to be decided, the report said.

Some 100 000 of the vehicles will initially be manufactured each year in Japan, where the car may also be sold.

A Toyota spokesperson declined to comment on the report.

Toyota is enjoying brisk sales of its vehicles in overseas markets, putting it on track to overtake GM as the world's top selling automaker this year.

- AFP