Toyota has announced it will increase six-speed automatic transmission assembly and machining capacity by 20,000 per month in early 2015 at its Buffalo powertrain plant and Bodine Aluminium casting facilities in Missouri and Tennessee. This will create more than 100 jobs.
This USD$90m boost to Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia (TMMWV) will raise total plant spending to more than $1.4bn and create about 80 jobs. TMMWV currently produces 500,000 transmissions every year, and this news will increase production to 740,000 transmissions every year starting in 2015.
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“This capacity increase helps us meet growing North American demand and is a part of our localisation strategy to ‘build where we sell,” said Millie Marshall, TMMWV senior vice president of manufacturing and administration.
MMWV employs 1,300 and builds transmissions for the Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Lexus RX350, Sienna and Venza.
Bodine Aluminium, a Toyota casting part manufacturing facility, will spend $11m at its Troy, Missouri plant and $1m in Jackson, Tennessee to provide transmission cases and housing parts to Toyota West Virginia. Bodine’s total spend is more than $650m and it employs nearly 1,100 at its three locations. This project will create 25 jobs in Missouri.
The announcement represents Toyota’s 11th manufacturing spend in North America over the past 21 months that now totals more than $2.1bn and represents more than 4,000 jobs created.
