The investment will increase Toyota engine production at the Kentucky plant to 500,000 annually.
Toyota announced today that it would increase annual engine assembly capacity of 4-cylinder engines by more than 100,000 at its plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. The ongoing challenges that the strong Japanese Yen present to Japanese makers, as well as the need for more fuel-efficient engines under revised CAFE regulations prompted the $30 million expansion. The increase will raise total employment to approximately 6,700 and total plant investment to more than $5.96 billion.
The additional capacity will result in only 80 new jobs since engine plants are highly automated, and require few skilled workers to monitor the computerized processes that do much of the work.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky (TMMK) currently assembles engines for the Avalon, Camry and Venza, all built at TMMK. The capacity increase will supply engines for TMMK’s Camry and Camry Hybrid and RAV4 in Woodstock, Ontario.
This investment will increase engine production at the Kentucky plant to more than 500,000 annually and will increase total engine production in the United States to more than 1.2 million per year. Toyota also has engine plants in Alabama and West Virginia.
