Bodine Aluminum to Expand in Tennessee

JACKSON, Tenn., May 2, 2005 -- Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America (TMMNA) announced today that its subsidiary, Bodine Aluminum, Inc., will boost employment here by 20 to 220 and investment by $40 million to $164 million. The expansion will allow Bodine to cast aluminum cases and housings for additional transmissions announced April 29 at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia.

This expansion announcement comes about seven months prior to the beginning of Bodine's engine block casting operations in Jackson. In 2003, Toyota announced that this facility would eventually employ 200 to cast about 1 million engine blocks annually. Bodine will begin casting aluminum transmission cases and housings in 2007, and will reach an annual capacity of 270,000.

Bodine is located on a 200-acre site in the Airport Industrial Park and currently employs 25.

Atsushi Niimi, president and CEO of TMMNA, said that Bodine's expansion reflects Toyota's increased North American manufacturing presence.

"With the growing demand for Toyota vehicles comes a responsibility to build those vehicles where we sell them. The same is true for parts such as engine blocks and transmission cases and housings," he said. "The effect includes good employment opportunities for the people of west Tennessee."

"This expansion is a testament to the great team members we've hired. We haven't even started production but our business is growing," said Bodine president Bob Lloyd. "We're grateful for the support provided by state and local officials, and the entire community. We have been warmly welcomed."

"We value the investment and commitment that Bodine Aluminum has made to Tennessee," said Governor Phil Bredesen. "It is certainly a great development that seven months prior to the company beginning production here, they have already decided to expand the operations. This represents yet another example of the advantages in Tennessee - a positive business climate, a quality workforce and strong partnerships at the state and local level - that all work hand-in-hand to make job creation opportunities like this one a reality."

"In the 1980s the auto industry brought higher family incomes to our state. Twenty years later, one-third of the manufacturing jobs in Tennessee are auto-related," said U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander. "I am proud to be here today to celebrate these new, good-paying jobs that Toyota continues to bring to West Tennessee."

"We are excited about this announcement and look forward to the new opportunities," said U.S. Rep. John Tanner. "Bodine and Toyota are important to West Tennessee, and this new growth is certainly good news for our economy."

Bodine Aluminum was founded in 1912 and became a Toyota subsidiary in 1990. The company's two plants in Troy and St. Louis, Mo., produce aluminum cylinder heads, cylinder blocks and other castings for most of Toyota's North American-produced vehicles. The company employs over 1,100 in those facilities.

Toyota has 11 vehicle manufacturing and parts facilities in North America, and in addition to Bodine's Tennessee plant is building a vehicle plant in San Antonio, Texas.

By 2006, Toyota will have the annual capacity to build 1.66 million cars and trucks, 1.44 million engines, and 600,000 automatic transmissions in North America. The company's direct investment is nearly $16.6 billion with annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers totaling nearly $25 billion. Toyota's North American-produced vehicles include the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Sienna, Solara, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra, and the Lexus RX330.