Toyota adding 400 jobs, $600M at IN plant
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Jan 25, 2017
On Tuesday, Toyota Indiana announced they will be adding 400 jobs to their Princeton, Indiana plant.
Following criticism from Trump over its investments in Mexico, Toyota said Tuesday that it would add 400 jobs at the in plant to bolster production capacity for the Highlander sport-utility vehicle.
Toyota Motor North America says it has invested some $4.3 billion in the state to date. During the 2017 North American International Auto Show, Jim Lentz, chief executive officer of Toyota Motor North America announced that the company would "invest an additional $10 billion dollars in the USA over the next five years". The plant will get a much-needed modern upgrade, including things like retooling, new equipment, and advanced technologies in anticipation of an additional 40,000 Highlander SUVs that will be produced there annually.
Tuesday's announcement came a few hours after the president met with General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Mark Fields and Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne to discuss his plans to lure more automotive plants to the U.S.
The $600 million dollar investment will mean 40,000 more of the Toyota Highlander SUV each year.
The Indiana investment is part of a $10 billion, 5-year US spending plan announced by Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda at the Detroit auto show earlier this month.
The third-generation Highlander made its debut at the IN plant IN 2013.
Toyota past year produced around 1.4 million vehicles in the United States, its largest market. Toyota had found itself in Trump's Twitter crosshairs when he targeted Toyota and its plans to build a new plant in Mexico. Throughout the country, Toyota has 10 manufacturing facilities, which employ more than 34,000.
However, the production shift probably has nothing to do with Trump's tweets.
