Toyota investing nearly $400 million in several US plants to support hybrids

Plano, Texas – Toyota plans to invest $373.8 million in five U.S. manufacturing plants to move hybrid powertrain components to this country from Japan.

The investments will include adding new production of hybrid transaxles (hybrid vehicle transmissions) at the Buffalo, West Virginia, manufacturing facility; expanding 2.5L engine capacity at the Georgetown, Kentucky, plant; increasing production of 2.5L cylinder heads at Bodine Aluminum’s Troy, Missouri, plant; and modifying the Bodine Jackson, Tennessee, plant to accommodate production of hybrid transaxle cases and housings and 2.5L engine blocks.

The Huntsville, Alabama, plant will undergo a comprehensive upgrade to enable it to build engines that complement the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA), a common platform for several global Toyota cars and trucks.

The 2.5L engines manufactured in Kentucky and transaxles made in West Virginia will be used in hybrid vehicles built in North America such as the Highlander Hybrid manufactured in Princeton, Indiana.

Fifty new jobs will be created because of the investment at the Alabama plant. There will be no net gain of jobs at the Kentucky, West Virginia, or Bodine Aluminum facilities, but these investments will help to ensure the stability of the plants’ employment levels in the future.

Jeff Moore, senior vice president for manufacturing, says the investments “underscore Toyota's confidence in the capability and global competitiveness of our North American manufacturing."

Total investment for each plant:

• Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky – $120,960,000
• Bodine Aluminum Jackson, Tennessee – $14,500,000
• Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia – $115,300,000
• Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama – $106,000,000
• Bodine Aluminum Troy, Missouri – $17,050,000

These projects, and others previously announced, move Toyota nearly halfway ($4.1 billion) toward its commitment to invest $10 billion in the U.S., as announced by Toyota Motor Corporation CEO Akio Toyoda in January 2017.