Toyota’s $1.3B factory revamp its largest ever
Upgrades will sustain jobs, overhaul assembly line at Kentucky production site
LOUISVILLE, KY.— Toyota said Monday it is investing $1.33 billion (U.S.) to retool its sprawling factory in Georgetown, Ky., where the company’s flagship Camry sedans are built.
No new factory jobs are being added, but Toyota says the upgrades amount to the biggest single investment ever at one of its existing plants in the United States. The retooling will also sustain the existing 8,200 jobs at Toyota’s largest plant, where about one-fourth of all Toyota vehicles produced in North America are made, the automaker said.
“This major overhaul will enable the plant to stay flexible and competitive, further cementing our presence in Kentucky,” said Wil James, president of the plant.
The updates at the Kentucky plant are part of Toyota’s plans to invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years, CEO Jim Lentz of Toyota Motor North America said in a news release.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a paragraph added to Toyota’s news release at the White House’s request on Sunday night, praised the investment and said it is “further evidence that manufacturers are now confident that the economic climate has greatly improved under my administration.”
But the Toyota investment has been in the works for years as it gears up for production of the revamped 2018 Camry, long the top-selling car in the U.S. Toyota has said the Camry’s new underpinnings were designed four or five years ago, and the factory upgrade is needed to build the new car, which goes on sale late in the summer. “The (production) line itself is being retooled to accommodate this change,” Toyota spokesperson Scott Vazin said.
Toyota is betting that the changes will solidify Camry’s premier sales position. That dominance is under threat from the popularity of SUVs.
“When the 2018 Camry hits the roads later this year, I’m convinced that it will have heads turning,” James said Monday.
The automaker said the plans call for updating equipment at the Kentucky plant and for the construction of a new paint shop. James said the upgrades will position the plant “to compete globally for new models, build ever-better cars for our customers now and enable us to respond quicker and more capably to market demands.”