[C-L] Barbour Announces Toyota Plant
The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that Governor Haley Barbour announced a $1.3 billion Toyota manufacturing plant (or $830 million, says Marketwatch) this morning. The plant will be located in Blue Springs, Miss., outside of Tupelo. The plant is expected to begin operations in 2010, building the mid-sized Toyota Highlander SUV. According to Marketwatch, the plant location in Mississippi offers synergies with existing Toyota plants, including an engine manufacturing facility in Alabama. The plant will be Toyota’s 11th (including both engine and assembly plants) in the United States, adding U.S. capacity for the company which has recently overtaken General Motors to become the largest vehicle maker worldwide.
Click full story for verbatim press release.
TOYOTA TO BUILD HIGHLANDERS IN MISSISSIPPI
New Plant to Start Production by 2010; To Employ 2,000 Team Members
(TUPELO, Mississippi) - Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour joined Toyota (NYSE: TM) officials today to announce that the company has chosen a 1,700-acre site in Blue Springs, Mississippi to build its eighth North American vehicle assembly plant.
The new plant, to be located just outside of Tupelo, will have the capacity to build 150,000 vehicles annually of Toyota’s popular Highlander sport utility vehicle. Production is scheduled to begin by 2010.
The new plant represents a $1.3 billion investment by Toyota and is expected to create approximately 2,000 new jobs for the region and indirectly create work for many more. Operations at the plant will include stamping, body weld, plastics, paint, and assembly.
Governor Barbour, speaking at a news conference held in Tupelo, welcomed Toyota’s decision to set up operations in Mississippi.
“We in Mississippi and especially North Mississippi are excited to have been chosen by Toyota as its partner,” said Governor Barbour. “Toyota is the world’s premiere auto manufacturer and our state will be the best partner the company has.”
Toyota manufacturing Executive Vice Presidents, Gary Convis and Ray Tanguay, joined Governor Barbour at the announcement to help deliver the good news to local citizens.
Convis addressed Toyota’s challenge in balancing rapid growth while maintaining the company’s superior quality standards, noting the recent start up of Tundra production in San Antonio and upcoming launch of Camry production at the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Indiana.
“We are excited for the opportunity to do business in Mississippi and are confident the team members here will have a commitment to perform at the highest possible level,” he said. “Governor Barbour and the regional economic development team were very convincing and unrelenting in their efforts to showcase the area’s advantages,” Convis said, while acknowledging that competition among several states for the new plant was tough.
Tanguay also pointed out several factors that led to Toyota’s site selection decision.
“On my visits to Northern Mississippi, I have talked with area companies and observed their workforce,” said Tanguay. “What I observed were people who are educated, ethical and friendly with a strong work ethic - a perfect match for the Toyota Way.” He added that the area’s existing companies had high praise for the workforce. “They were definitely the best sales people.”
Convis and Tanguay both recognized the contributions of the team who worked on bringing Toyota’s fifth vehicle assembly plant to the U.S., citing the team effort put forth by state and local officials and the private sector.
“The partnership of all of these groups was instrumental to our decision, including the creation of a new rail district to provide competitive rail access for the plant,” said Tanguay.
“We’re honored that Toyota has chosen to invest in our state and grow with Mississippians,” said Trent Lott, Senator of Mississippi. “This is a partnership between one of the world’s best companies, and a state which has already proven itself capable of attracting the world’s top defense, automotive and aerospace jobs.”
Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran and Congressman Roger Wicker also participated in the announcement.
Site preparation and construction for the plant is scheduled to begin later this spring. A majority of the hiring will take place closer to the start of vehicle production.
Outline of Toyota Mississippi
Location Blue Springs, Mississippi (outside of Tupelo)
Plant overview Vehicle production (stamping, body weld, plastics, paint and assembly)
Product Toyota Highlander
Production capacity 150,000 units/year
Site area 1,700 acres
Investment $1.3 billion
Start of production By 2010
Employment 2,000
Toyota currently operates six vehicle assembly plants with one under construction in North America. These include:
* Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK), in Georgetown produces the Avalon, Camry, Camry Hybrid, and Camry Solara.
* Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc. (TMMC), in Cambridge, Ontario produces the Corolla, Matrix and Lexus RX 350.
* Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc. (TMMI), in Princeton produces the Tundra, Sequoia, and Sienna.
* New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI), a joint venture with General Motors in Fremont, California, produces the Corolla and Tacoma and Pontiac Vibe.
* Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Baja California (TMMBC), in Tijuana, Mexico, produces the Tacoma and Tacoma truck beds.
* Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc. (TMMTX), in San Antonio produces the Tundra.
* And beginning in 2008, a new plant in Woodstock, Ontario will produce the RAV4.
Also, Toyota this spring will start producing Camrys at Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA) in Lafayette, Indiana.
Additionally, Toyota has four engine plants in North America including:
* Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia, Inc. (TMMWV), in Buffalo produces four-cylinder and V6 engines and automatic transmissions.
* TMMK produces four-cylinder and V6 engines.
* TMMC assembles four-cylinder engines.
* Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc. (TMMAL), produces V6 and V8 engines.
To view the announcement on a live web cast, log on and register at:
http://www.iian.ibeam.com/events/mdlk001/21770
The announcement will also be available via satellite at the following coordinates:
Galaxy 11; Transponder 13K.
Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957. In 2009, Toyota will have the annual capacity to build approximately 2.16 million cars and trucks, 1.45 million engines and 600,000 automatic transmissions in 15 plants across North America. There are more than 1,700 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America, which sell more than 2.8 million vehicles a year. Toyota directly employs more than 41,000 people in North America. With today’s announcement, Toyota’s investment in North America is valued at nearly $19 billion.
Posted by admin at 10:06 AM in MS Newspapers | Email this entry
Comments:
Does anyone know if this is true: The hybrid technologhy that is used by Toyota and Honda was developed by the Ford Motor Company. If this is true then maybe some of the blame for the success of the Prius can be placed on upper management at GM and Ford for building Hummers and Expeditions and not having a viable hybrid alternative like Toyota and Honda. testking 642-661 American cars are built better than ever but the consumer has little choice then to go with foreign hybrids.The best corporate executies are paid well enough that we should expect them to have at least some vision of the future. Hey management, testking 70-270 “How about a Ford or Chevy Econoline Type Hybrid Van that gets 30 to 50 miles per gallon?”
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Toyota developed the “synergy drive” hybrid technology on their own and sell it via license to other automakers (Nissan comes to mind) in various forms. Other automakers developed their own. Some of those work better than others. GM’s version in thier Aura and Malibu do not run on electric only, but only assist the gas engine. They do shut down at stop and restart when the brake pedal is released, but for that small gas saving privilege you get 2 extra MPG in the City and ZERO extra MPG on the highway over the regular 4-cyl models AND the A/C shuts off while stopped (great for July rush-hour). testking 70-271 All for $3000 extra over the comparable 4-cyl… what is GM thinking??? It’s no wonder the Japanese makers are beating the pants off of the Big 3......................... and even with this Japanese advantage in design, sales are still down for everyone.
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That will bring to eight the number of Toyota’s North American plants, capable of manufacturing 2.2 million vehicles a year, equivalent to 86% of the cars and trucks Toyota sold in the USA last year. Auto Insurance
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It has assembly plants and distributors in many foreign countries, and it owns subsidiaries that produce cars and car parts, trucks, steel, synthetic resins, and industrial equipment. Its brands include Toyota and Lexus. Safety
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Toyota is headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi and in Tokyo.Track Days at SilverstoneIn addition to manufacturing automobiles, Toyota provides financial services through its Toyota Financial Services division and also builds robots.
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The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father’s company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934.limo miami
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The Toyota Motor Company received its first Japanese Quality Control Award at the start of the 1980s and began participating in a wide variety of motorsports.square peg web
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The world headquarters of Toyota are located in its home country in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. Its subsidiary, Toyota Financial Services sells financing and participates in other lines of business.Mustang Parts
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This is true then maybe some of the blame for the success of the Prius can be placed on upper management at GM and Ford for building Hummers and Expeditions and not having a viable hybrid alternative like Toyota and Honda.
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The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father’s company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA.HID Kit
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Hi,
It is the great news.Toyota and its suppliers have been committed partners throughout this process, and I appreciate their dedication to our state.
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Toyota is one of the largest companies to push hybrid vehicles in the market and the first to commercially mass-produce and sell such vehicles, an example being the Toyota Prius. The company eventually began providing this option on the main smaller cars such as Camry and later with the Lexus divisions.Mercedes accessories
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I live in Tennessee right now and i want to relocate to Texas and get on at one of the two car plants located down there, the GM one at Arlington and the Toyota one at San Antonio. So what i am wondering is are all applications done online or can i come in person to apply at both plants? Also let me know if any of you have any first hand experience with applying at either of these plants.Thanks in advance for all intelligent replies.
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