By Shinnosuke Kurama

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Toyota Motor Corp. will expand the availability of its U.S.-made Highlander sport utility vehicles to dealerships across Japan from Aug. 1, the company announced Wednesday. It aims to sell 40 units per month.

The Highlander is a three-row, seven-seat SUV and a popular model that has sold more than 3.6 million units in the United States. Toyota began selling the Highlander exclusively at dealerships in Tokyo in April, alongside the full-size Tundra pickup truck. The company says it has already received about 10 orders for the Highlander, primarily from customers switching from other SUVs.

Toyota is selling U.S.-made vehicles in Japan as part of efforts to expand its product lineup at home and contribute to positive Japan-U.S. relations. Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. are considering similar initiatives.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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