Toyota to Build Addition to North American Manufacturing Headquarters
7 April 1999
Toyota to Build Addition to North American Manufacturing Headquarters
ERLANGER, Ky., April 6 -- Toyota Motor Manufacturing North
America, Inc. (TMMNA) will be making a $15.4 million additional investment
to expand its Erlanger office, the company announced today. The expansion
will add 80,000 square feet to the original building, increasing total
facility size to 258,000 square feet.
This will be the second time TMMNA has added space to its North
American manufacturing headquarters since locating near Cincinnati in
Erlanger in 1996. Last year, a new laboratory opened on the site to
accommodate quality and production engineering activities. With the newest
announcement, total investment at the Erlanger office will grow to more
than $68 million.
The four-story addition will increase the number of work stations and
conference rooms, as well as provide space for a cafeteria. Current
employment at TMMNA is 630.
"In our two and a half years in operation here, we have continued to
absorb administrative functions previously performed by our parent company
in Japan and our North American manufacturing companies. As a result, our
full time employment at Erlanger will grow to 700 team members, and we have
to expand existing work and meeting space," said Teruyuki Minoura, TMMNA
president and CEO.
Minoura added that TMMNA has hundreds of visitors each week, primarily
from U.S. supplier companies, for which additional conference rooms are
needed. TMMNA's North American purchases now exceed $8 billion from some
500 supplier companies. Nearly 150 of those suppliers are located in Ohio,
Kentucky and Indiana.
The expansion will also allow team members who have been working in
leased space in a nearby building to move to the main TMMNA building.
"We continue to be impressed with Toyota's presence and growth in
Northern Kentucky," commented Danny G. Fore, president, Tri-County
Economic Development Corporation. "This expansion, coupled with the
recently announced parts distribution center in Hebron, will make a
tremendous economic impact on the area, and is certainly welcome news."
Construction will begin later this spring, with completion anticipated
by May 2000. The architect for the addition is Cincinnati-based KZF
Incorporated, the same company who designed the original building. A
general contractor will be selected later.
TMMNA is responsible for managing Toyota's North American
manufacturing operations. It provides such functions as purchasing,
production control, finance, quality and production engineering for its
eight plants located in the U.S. and Canada.
Toyota continues to increase its investment in the Greater Cincinnati
area. Last December, Toyota announced the construction of a Midwest Parts
Center in Hebron, Ky., for distribution of repair and service parts to
dealers across the eastern half of the United States. Other area Toyota
operations include the Toyota Motor Sales regional sales office, Toyota
Motor Credit Corporation (Cincinnati Branch) and Toyota Motor Insurance
Services Central Region.
When the expansions of TMMNA and the parts center are completed, Toyota
will employ more than 1,500 people in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. In
addition, the seven Cincinnati area Toyota and Lexus dealers employ 565
people.
Last year, Toyota produced nearly a million vehicles in North America,
and its manufacturing operations here continue to grow with over a billion
dollars in expansions now underway at its truck plant in Indiana, its
engine plant in West Virginia, and its foundry -- Bodine Aluminum -- in
Missouri. Toyota employs over 28,600 in North America, with more than
140,000 employed by its first tier suppliers and dealers here.