Mumbai: Toyota Motor Corporation, the world''s second-largest automaker, will build a new plant in Mississippi, the US to meet increasing demand for sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

The plant, estimated to cost $830 million (100 billion yen), will be Toyota''s eighth North American assembly plant, and is due to open in 2009, sources familiar with the plan said.

Japanese business daily Nikkei had reported earlier that t he plant would make about 150,000 Highlander sport-utility vehicles a year. Another report from Kyodo news agency put the investment figure at 200 billion yen and output capacity at 200,000 units. The plant will create about 2,000 new jobs, Kyodo said.

Toyota, which well on course to become the world''s biggest automaker overtaking General Motors Corporation this year, meanwhile, reported a 13 per cent jump in 2006 sales.

Its US market share rose 2.1 points to 15.4 per cent in 2006, aided by its Corolla compact car and the Prius gasoline- electric hybrid car, while GM''s share fell 1.6 points, and Ford Motor Co.''s dropped by 1.1 point.

Toyota overtook Chrysler as the third-biggest car maker in the US, putting its market share at a record high 15.4 per cent against the US brand''s 12.9 per cent.

Toyota, which may surpass GM as the world''s biggest automaker this year itself, increased capital spending by 1.4 per cent to a record 1.55 trillion yen from a year ago.

The Highlander, called the Kluger in Japan, is currently only made at Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc. in southern Japan. Toyota annually sells about 150,000 Highlanders in the US and Canada. The model competes with GM''s Chevrolet Equinox, Ford''s Explorer and Honda Motor Co.''s Pilot SUVs.

In 2006, some 46 per cent of Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands sold in the US were imported from Japan, up from 38.4 per cent in 2005 and 37 per cent in 2004. By comparison, Honda and Nissan Motor Co. each sourced about 80 per cent of the vehicles they sold in the US from North American plants.

Toyota is also planning to add a combined 250,000 units in annual capacity using a line in its existing North American affiliate Fuji Heavy Industries'' Indiana factory this year and opening a new Canadian plant next year, sources said.