Toyota Motor Corp. has announced that Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (SFTM), a joint company formed with the China FAW Group Corp., initiated production of the Toyota “Prius” hybrid vehicle on December 15, 2005. Production is underway at Chanchun Fengyue Co., an SFTM branch. The Prius became the first hybrid vehicle manufactured in China under China’s national hybrid vehicle certification system, which came into effect on October 1, 2005. This is also the first time that Toyota has ever manufactured any hybrid vehicles outside of Japan.