In February 2025, Toyota announced that Lexus would establish a fully owned production facility in Shanghai dedicated to pure electric vehicles, with an initial annual capacity of 100 000 units and production slated to begin in 2027.

Initially it was reported that this facility would likely adopt gigacasting technology and produce the Lexus LF-ZC, set for a 2026 launch and initial production in Japan. Recent details from the factory permits confirmed this information.

The picture of the 8 800 ton die casting machine gives you an idea of what size the 9 000 ton die casting machine will be

This will be China’s first wholly owned automotive plant by a foreign company, for both domestic and international sales, after Tesla established Giga Shanghai in 2019. The facility will manufacture the new Lexus model using Toyota’s cutting edge technologies, including gigacasting, self-propelled production lines, and an unboxed assembly process to reduce factory investment and accelerate mass production setup.

Recent exclusive information indicates that Toyota is close to signing a deal for 9 000 ton die casting machines for the Lexus plant in Shanghai, with Haitian as the likely supplier.

In addition to serving the Chinese market, 20% of the plant’s output will be exported to Europe and Southeast Asia.

Spanning 615 700 square metres, the plant’s development is divided into three phases:

• Stamping, die casting, body-in-white, painting, general assembly, and battery pack assembly.
• A dedicated battery workshop and an office building.
• Expansion of stamping and die casting, plus an additional battery workshop.