Toyota announces $121M investment in Georgetown plant

The amount of money Toyota is pumping into its Georgetown plant continues to grow. The Japan-based automobile manufacturer announced a $120,960,000 investment in the company’s largest manufacturing plant Tuesday.

The money will go toward technology that will expand the 2.5-liter engine production at the plant.

Currently, the plant produces more than 600,000 engines a year. The new investment will increase the engine production capacity by about 108,000 a year, said Wil James, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky.

No jobs will be gained from the Georgetown investment. The engines will be used in hybrid vehicles built in North America such as the Highlander Hybrid made in Princeton, Ind.

The $121 million announcement comes only a few months after Toyota announced it was putting $1.33 billion in the Georgetown plant to make vehicles using Toyota New Global Architecture, a system designed to make the company more nimble in car development, build a new paint shop and update equipment.

Toyota has previously announced it plans to invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years.

“I don’t think it’s too surprising that we would get a fair amount of that investment,” James said. “We’re pretty elated about that because we do have such a dramatic impact on overall North American manufacturing.”

The investment will allow the Georgetown plant to be part of the growing development of hybrids, James said. Toyota has sold more than 10 million gas-electric hybrids worldwide since 1997, more than any other automobile manufacturer.

Toyota’s announcement is part of a nationwide $373.8 million investment, which includes a $115.3 million investment in the Toyota manufacturing plant in Buffalo, W.Va., a $106 million investment in the Huntsville, Ala., plant and other investments in Tennessee and Missouri.

The Georgetown plant received the most money out of the five investments announced.

“This investment is part of our long-term commitment to build more vehicles and components in the markets in which we sell them,” said Jim Lentz, CEO, Toyota Motor North America in a news release. “This strategy is designed to better serve our customers and dealers, and positions our manufacturing operations to fulfill their needs well into the future.”

The Georgetown plant employs about 8,200 people and produces vehicles including the Camry sedan and the Lexus ES 350.

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Toyota announces $121M investment in Georgetown plant."