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Toyota to Build Transmissions at West Virginia Plant for Camry

14 September 1998

Toyota to Build Transmissions at West Virginia Plant for Number-One-Selling Camry

    CHARLESTON, W.Va., Sept. 11 -- Toyota Motor Manufacturing
North America, Inc. announced today it will be expanding to produce automatic
transmissions at its plant in Buffalo, W.Va.  The addition will be another
$200 million investment, bringing the total to $900 million.
    "This announcement is very significant for Toyota," said Tomoya Toriumi,
president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia (TMMWV), "for this will
be the first time we will produce automatic transmissions outside of Japan.
This speaks well of the confidence Toyota has in the West Virginia workforce."
    The plant will make 360,000 automatic transmissions per year for North
American-built Camrys.  The transmission has been the final high-dollar
component still imported for Toyota's number-one-selling car.
    Another 200 jobs will be created for transmission production, increasing
total projected employment to 800.
    TMMWV will begin producing 4-cylinder engines this fall.  Earlier this
year, the company announced plans to add V6 engine production in the year
2000.  Construction for the 300,000-square-foot transmission facility will
begin in Spring of 1999, with transmission production beginning in 2001.
    West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood thanked Toyota for its continued
growth in the state.
    "When a company like Toyota invests in our state, it sends a strong
message to other companies that West Virginia is a good place to do business,"
he said.  "This is the second time in nine months Toyota has decided to
increase investment in its Putnam County plant.  This tells me they are
pleased with the quality of local workers and the overall business climate
here."
    U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller was also among dignitaries at the
announcement.
    "I'm very excited that Toyota is deciding, for a second time, to expand
its Buffalo operation.  When I first met Dr. Toyoda in 1986, I knew that
Toyota and West Virginia would make a great team," Sen. Rockefeller said.  "I
was honored when Toyota chose West Virginia as the site for its engine plant,
and I knew once they were here, our dedicated workforce and supportive
business community would make them want to stay and hopefully expand.  Now
Toyota and West Virginia are showing the world that they are a winning
combination."
    TMMWV is one of eight Toyota plants located in North America. Toyota now
has capacity to build more than one million cars and trucks, as well as a
million engines, in the U.S. and Canada and employs 20,000 Americans at its
manufacturing facilities.  Some 150 team members have been hired to date for
engine production at the Buffalo plant.