Toyota investing $750M at 5 U.S. plants, creating 600 jobs

Toyota Motor Corp. on Thursday announced it is investing an additional $750 million at five U.S. plants that will bring nearly 600 new jobs, including the production of two hybrid vehicles for the first time at its Kentucky facility.

It marks yet another expansion of the Japanese automaker's U.S. presence, bringing to nearly $13 billion the amount it will spend by 2021.

The latest investments are at facilities in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia. Those same facilities were part of a 2017 announcement by Toyota for a $374 million investment to support production of its first American-made hybrid powertrain.

Toyota Motor North America executive Chris Reynolds said the investments represent yet more examples of the company's long-term commitment to build where it sells.

"Our overarching manufacturing principle is if we can sell it here, we need to make it here. That's been true before any tariff uncertainty, it's true during tariff uncertainty and it will be true after. Our investment cycles go beyond any particular political cycle," he said during a conference call with reporters.

Toyota Motor North America CEO Jim Lentz said, "In a time when others are scaling back, we believe in the strength of America, and we're excited about the future of mobility here in America."

The automaker is spreading the additional investments among several plants.

Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky, facility will get a $238 million infusion to produce hybrid versions of Lexus ES 300 sedans starting in May and the RAV4 SUV starting in January 2020, the company announced.

The RAV4 production doesn't signal a shift away from sedan production at the sprawling Kentucky plant, Toyota executives said. Instead, it reflects Toyota's plan to build multiple vehicles at its plants to better insulate each facility from downturns in market cycles.

"Unlike some of our competitors, we think there's value in the sedan market, while it may not be as big as it was," Reynolds said.

Previously, Toyota also announced a $600 million investment at its Princeton, Indiana, plant to increase the capacity of its Highlander SUV and to incorporate the new production strategy, and $170 million to launch the 2020 Corolla on a new production line in Blue Springs, Mississippi.