Toyota also builds and plans to export Sienna minivans from TMMI.
Toyota said today it will increase production of the Highlander mid-size SUV in late 2013 at the company’s Princeton, Ind. plant. Both hybrid and export versions will be included in the expansion. The project is expected to create approximately 400 new jobs at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, Inc. (TMMI).
The company will invest about $400 million to support global demand for the Highlander, which will no longer be built in Japan by late 2013. Highlander is currently sold in Russia and Australia, and TMMI will export to those countries. Annual Highlander production volume is expected to increase by approximately 50,000 units at TMMI.
The ongoing strength of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar and the Euro buy celebrex cheap means Toyota’s old Japanese export based strategy is a new money loser. Yesterday Toyota reported a stunning drop in profits of 57.% in Q3 in part because of the strong yen.
Toyota also builds Highlander in China for that market only since Chinese tariffs and other government policies force local assembly with Chinese partners.
“This project allows for better utilization of the Indiana plant and will help Toyota capitalize on the improving North American and global auto market,” said Steve St. Angelo, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
TMMI currently employs 4,800 and builds the Highlander, Sequoia full-size SUV and Sienna minivan.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
