Toyota Invests $383M across U.S. Production Plants
Toyota will invest $383 million across four of its plants in the U.S. south, including Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. The investment will go toward creating or expanding production lines for four-cylinder engines with options for hybrid-electric vehicles.
The company’s manufacturing operations in Huntsville, Alabama, will get the lion’s share of the investment at $222 million. A new four-cylinder line designed to create both combustion and hybrid-electric powertrain will be part of a 114,000-square-foot expansion, the sixth time the plant has been expanded since opening in 2003. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama can now produce nearly 900,000 engines per year and represents almost a $1.5 billion investment.
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Toyota Motor Manufacturing Missouri has the second-highest share of the investment at $109 million, which will be used to expand its four-cylinder production line’s ability to produce cylinder heads, raising annual capacity to more than three million.
The Tennessee and Kentucky locations are next, receiving $36 million and $16 million, respectively. The latter may seem small compared to the others, but the Georgetown plant already received a $461 investment, part of which was devoted to creating a new four-cylinder production line. The $16 million will go toward expanding that line’s flexibility to better meet customer demand.
“Toyota customers want vehicles that are fuel-efficient and electrified,” said Norm Bafunno, senior vice president, Unit Manufacturing and Engineering, Toyota. “These investments allow us to meet customer needs and quickly respond to an evolving market. We are committed to investing in the U.S., and our teams are ready to take on this new challenge.”
Last year, Toyota announced it would invest $3.4 billion in U.S. battery production and electrification technologies. It’s not clear how much of this latest $383 million investment is part of that multi-billion-dollar pie.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.