Posted by: Jack Weatherly in Manufacturing, MBJ FEATURE April 26, 2018
By JACK WEATHERLY
Toyota announced Thursday it will invest $170 million in its Blue Springs plant and create 400 jobs to build the 12th generation Corolla.
The investment in the new Toyota New Global Architecture enables the assembly plant to stay competitive globally.
“We will be able to respond quicker and be more flexible in order to meet market demands down the road,” Toyota Mississippi President Sean Suggs, said in a news release. “I’m very proud of our team members and the partnerships we have developed across the state.”
Implementation of TNGA, along with an overall increase in production, will create 400 jobs during the next 12 months at the Blue Springs plant, which currently employs about 2,000. TNGA is a new approach to the way Toyota designs, engineers and produces its vehicles.
This investment is part Toyota’s plan to invest $10 billion in its U.S. facilities over the next five years.
A sizeable chunk of that $10 billion has been committed to a joint-venture plant between Mazda and Toyota in Huntsville, Ala.
Mississippi was one of several states in the running for the joint-venture plant, which in March the companies announced will create 4,000 jobs for manufacturing Corollas and a new Mazda SUV, and possibly later an electric vehicle.
The state of Alabama awarded the companies $370 million in incentives.
Mississippi is not offering help beyond the $323.9 million general obligation bond issue that helped launch the plant, according to the Mississippi Development Authority.
Also, Toyota received a rebate of a percentage of payroll for up to 10 years from the state.
The latest project will bring Toyota’s investment in the Blue Springs facility to more than $1 billion since 2007.
The company has made $4.27 billion of investments in the U.S. since 2017. Toyota’s total investment in the U.S. over the past 60 years is $25 billion.
The $170 million investment in the Mississippi assembly plant will include a complete replacement of the current production lines, allowing the facility to produce advanced vehicles more efficiently and better adapt to changing market needs.