Toyota, Bodine Aluminum Break Ground in Tennessee

JACKSON, Tenn., Nov. 3, 2003 -- Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America and its subsidiary Bodine Aluminum, Inc., broke ground here today for a new engine block casting plant.

A crowd of about 300 community leaders cheered as Governor Phil Bredesen, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, U.S. Representative John Tanner, and local elected and civic officials joined Toyota and Bodine officials in planting trees as a symbol of the company putting down roots in Tennessee.

The Tennessee facility, to be located in the Jackson/Madison County Airport Industrial Park, will eventually employ 200 and produce one million units annually. Construction begins in February 2004 and production begins in late 2005.

Toyota senior managing director Yasuhito Yamauchi said the Tennessee plant is critical to the company's growth on this continent.

"In order to sell more vehicles in North America, we will manufacture them in North America," he said. "We need engines for those vehicles as well, which we are building in increasing numbers in Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama and California."

With growth comes an increased responsibility to the environment, Yamauchi said. He noted that Toyota's aggressive targets for reducing its impact on the earth include Bodine and position Toyota among the most environmentally friendly auto manufacturers in the world.

Tennessee elected officials spoke highly of this addition to the state's growing auto manufacturing base.

"Today we gather on this site to turn the soil that past generations have tilled, this time to build a manufacturing facility that will help to feed and nurture the families who will work here and the community in which they live for generations to come," said Governor Phil Bredesen. "What we build here will stand as a testament to the vision and to the cooperative efforts of all of us who have worked to make this possible."

"These Toyota jobs are the best kind of good paying new jobs for Jackson and West Tennessee," said U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander. "Tennessee is becoming the geographical center of the American automobile industry. Since 1983, 900 new auto parts suppliers with 150,000 new jobs have helped raise Tennesseans' family incomes. Toyota helped bring thousands of those jobs to Tennessee. I am proud Toyota is in Jackson and look forward to the company's continued success in Tennessee."

"We are thrilled to be welcoming Toyota into Jackson," said U.S. Rep. John Tanner. "The opening of a new plant like this is a testament to the dedicated work ethic of Tennesseans and the excellent quality of life we enjoy in West Tennessee."

Bodine Aluminum was founded in 1912 and became a Toyota subsidiary in 1990. The company's two plants in Troy and St. Louis, Missouri produce cylinder heads, cylinder blocks and other castings for most of Toyota's North American-produced vehicles. The company employs over 900 people in those two facilities.

Toyota currently has 10 vehicle manufacturing and parts facilities in North America, and in addition to Bodine is building two more in Baja California, Mexico and San Antonio, Texas.

By 2006, Toyota will have the capacity to build 1.66 million cars and trucks a year and 1.29 million engines in North America. Toyota currently employs some 34,000 people throughout North America. The company's direct investment is nearly $14 billion with annual parts, materials, goods and services purchased from North American suppliers totaling nearly $20 billion. Toyota's North American-produced vehicles include the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Sienna, Solara, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra, Voltz and the Lexus RX 300.