Earlier this year, Toyota Motor Corp. announced a plan to invest $10 billion in U.S. manufacturing over the next five years.
The goal of making such a hefty investment is to upgrade its U.S. plants so the company can build and sell more fuel-efficient vehicles in this country.
Now, nine months after that previous announcement, Toyota has announced its investing $374 million to upgrade its plants in Georgetown, Kentucky; Buffalo, West Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; Jackson, Tennessee; and Troy, Missouri.
According to The Truth About Cars, the plant in Georgetown will get approximately $121 million so it can build 2.5-liter engines, while the Huntsville plant will receive $106 million in order to build motors that will be used with the Toyota New Global Architecture. Furthermore, that investment in the Huntsville plant will lead to 50 new jobs for the state of Alabama.
So how will the rest of the money be spent?
Well, $115 million will go towards the Buffalo plant so it can produce hybrid transaxles. This news is quite significant as it's the first time Toyota has produced this part in the U.S., according to Automotive News.
As for the rest of the $32 million, the plant in Troy will get $17 million to build the heads of Toyota's 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and $14.5 will be going to the Jackson plant, which will be responsible for producing hybrid transaxle cases and houses, as well as engine blocks for the aforementioned four-cylinder motor.
"This investment is part of our long-term commitment to build more vehicles and components in the markets in which we sell them," Toyota Motor North America CEO Jim Lentz said in a statement. "This strategy is designed to better serve our customers and dealers, and positions our manufacturing operations to fulfill their needs well into the future."