Toyota to Expand Huntsville, Ala., Plant

Sept. 25, 2004
$250 Million to Be Invested in Expansion of Motor-Manufacturing Plant

Alabama Governor Bob Riley joined community leaders from Huntsville and executives from Toyota (NYSE:TM) today to announce another expansion of Toyota's engine plant located in Huntsville.

"This is the second major expansion of the Toyota plant in the past 14 months and is yet another sign that Alabama's economy is on the right track," Governor Riley said. "The fact that Toyota has essentially doubled its presence in Alabama shows not only that this is a truly successful company with a great team of workers, but that it also has a lot of confidence in the economy of our state."

This expansion project will nearly double the size of the current facility. Additional investment for this expansion will be $250 million, bringing the total to $490 million. Another 300 jobs will be added for a total of 800. Annual production capacity will be increased by 150,000 engines for a total of 400,000 units.

Since May 2003, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama has been supplying V8 engines for the Tundra full-size pickup produced in Indiana. The expansion announced today will allow for the production of additional V8 engines. These engines will be built for the Tundra and Sequoia SUV produced in Indiana and Tundras that will be produced at a new Toyota plant under construction in San Antonio, Texas.

"This expansion will allow us to build more of the full-size pickup trucks that our customers demand. Engines built right here in Alabama will power those trucks," said Dennis Cuneo, senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America.

In July last year, Governor Riley announced the Alabama engine plant's first expansion for V6 engine production to begin next summer. The V6 will be used for the Tundra as well as Tacoma pickup trucks made in Fremont, California and Baja California, Mexico.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama President Haruaki Hoshino stated, "Toyota is proud to be building the heart of the Tundra right here in Alabama and the additional engine capacity announced today will be built with the same dedication to quality as our current V8 and the upcoming V6."