With the first steel column now in place, construction is officially under way on the new assembly line for the first US produced Lexus model.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky (TMMK) will ‘localise’ production of the ES350 sedan, latest in a line not sold in Europe, which has never been assembled outside Japan. The moves aligns with Toyota’s continuing strategy to assemble vehicles in the markets where its customers live. The ES is Lexus’ bestselling sedan, with 72,581 units sold in the US in 2013, up nearly 30% from 2012.
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Localizing production of the luxury sedan will generate 750 new jobs at the plant where Toyota is spending US$360m on its largest and longest running manufacturing operation in North America.
ES350 output starts in autumn 2015 with plans to assemble approximately 50,000 units in Georgetown annually.
Toyota builds the Lexus RX SUV for North America in Canada. The Cambridge, Ontario, plant was the first to build a Lexus model outside Japan.
