 "Toyota")
By Chester Dawson
Toyota Motor Corp. is boosting investment at a plant in Kentucky by $1.3 billion as it prepares to start US production next year of a three-row, all-electric SUV.
The Japanese automaker said Tuesday the added spending is earmarked for its first US-made EV and other unspecified battery-powered models, and includes money for a battery pack assembly line at the factory. The cells for those packs will be supplied by a new Toyota-owned facility in North Carolina, it said.
“Today’s announcement reflects our commitment to vehicle electrification and further reinvesting in our US operations,” Kerry Creech, president of Toyota Kentucky, said in a statement.
Toyota has taken a more cautious approach to introducing fully electric vehicles than peers such as Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. Its electrification efforts have been focused mainly on hybrid gas-electric models. The company currently sells two EVs in the US — the bZ4X and Lexus RZ 450e — both manufactured in Japan.
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The investment brings total outlays at the Georgetown, Kentucky, factory to nearly $10 billion since 1986. The spending “reinforces Toyota’s commitment to high-quality vehicles and long-term job stability,” it said.
The Kentucky location is the carmaker’s oldest vehicle assembly plant in the US. It employs about 9,400 workers and is one of several non-union facilities that has been targeted by the United Auto Workers in a renewed collective bargaining push.
The additional investment in the US comes as Toyota is on a roll, just hours after it raised full-year earnings guidance and posted strong profit gains for the most recent quarter.
