Toyota is making a $461 million investment in it largest manufacturing facility in the world located in Georgetown. It will pay for major upgrades in operational equipment.
Toyota said the changes, which include replacing all assembly lines, will further the Scott County factory’s operational speed, flexibility, and competitiveness. A new engine line is planned. Toyota Kentucky President Susan Elkington said this investment is not about new models. “Currently there’s no product announcement. This is specifically about preparing our plant to be able to produce those models of the future.”
The Toyota CEO said it will increase capacity in making the RAV 4 hybrid. Elkington noted equipment changes will also facilitate future EV production. No slowdown is expected during the makeover. “I think one of the key unique points about this transformation is we’re making the significant change without interrupting our current production. Usually these type of changes would require a plant to be able to shut down for a period of time. But we’re going to continue our operations while we’re making this transformation,” said Elkington.
1400 workers, currently employed through a staffing agency, will become direct employees. Mike Clark is director of the University of Kentucky’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “In terms of making sure that we are competitive, and we maintain those jobs is that we might have to make sure that our workers are equipped with equipment that will make them productive. It still does have kind of an impact on employment, even if there are not necessarily jobs associated with the announcement,” explained Clark.
Toyota said to help create space for future products and better align with U.S. market demands, production of the Lexus ES and Lexus ES hybrid will shift back to Japan prior to the next major model change.
The state agreement with the automaker comes with $212.5 million in cumulative tax incentives based on Toyota’s total cumulative investment of $2.2 billion.
