Toyota named a non-Japanese to its board of directors for the first time, appointing American James Press, the Japanese auto-maker’s president of North American operations.

The move is the latest step in Toyota Motor Corp.’s efforts to become more international as its business reach grows increasingly global.

The change, announced along with eight Japanese newly appointed to the board of directors, will take effect pending shareholders approval in June, the company said in a statement.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s second plant for the IMV project started manufacturing pickup (Hilux) type IMV (innovative multi-purpose vehicle) model in Thailand.

The new plant will produce 100,000 units of the IMV pickups a year.

With the new facility, production capacity of the IMV models in Thailand will rise to 350,000 units annually.

Thailand becomes the largest manufacturing base for Toyota’s IMV models in the world.

Car sales in Vietnam doubled in the first quarter of the year, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) said.

Large gains from the country’s booming stock market drove the growth, a VAMA official said, which reported a total of 12,183 vehicles sold between January and March, compared to last year’s figure for the same period of 6,091.

Leading the surge were passenger cars, up by 235 percent, from 829 units in the three-month period last year to 2,774 this year.

Suzuki Motor Corporation said that it has started to export its XL7 crossover SUV, which is made at its joint manufacturing venture in Canada, to Central and South American markets.

The XL7, which is powered by a 3.6-liter V6 engine, was already introduced to the U.S. and Canadian markets in last October.

Suzuki plans to increase the production of XL7 to 45,000 units per year.

AB Volvo and Nissan Diesel Motor Co., Ltd. are aiming to take a 25% share of the global truck market after the Swedish commercial vehicle manufacture makes the Japanese manufacturer into a wholly owned subsidiary.

Volvo will position Nissan Diesel at the heart of its Asian operations, where the company has had a low profile. Nissan Diesel will sell mostly medium-duty trucks.

By lifting its Asian market share to 25%Volvo hopes to reach its global target.

Volvo trails Germany’s DaimlerChrysler AG as the no. 2 global truck manufacturer.

It accounts for 20% and 25% of sales in North America and Europe, respectively. But in Asia, Volvo1 market share is around 5-10%.

By bringing Nissan Diesel under its umbrella, Volvo would double the size of its medium-duty truck operations.

In March 2006, Volvo purchased a stake in Nissan Diesel, Japan’s fourth-largest producer of heavy-and medium-duty trucks.

But faster decision-making for developing green technology, capital spending and other matters was necessary, according to Volvo Deputy Chief Executive officer Jorma Halonen.