Sep. 30, 2011

Toyota Motor Manufacturing,
Alabama Marks Start of Four-cylinder Engine Production

Production Start Coincides with Plant's 10th Anniversary Celebrations

 

Huntsville, United States, September 29, 2011―Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc. (TMMAL), an engine-production subsidiary of Japan-based Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), held a line-off ceremony here today to mark the beginning of four-cylinder engine production.

Government officials including Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, as well as TMMAL President Jim Bolte, and TMC Executive Vice President Atsushi Niimi attended the ceremony, where Niimi expressed his gratitude to TMMAL by stating: "TMMAL's team members' focus on quality, safety and outstanding commitment to continuous improvement and team work is second-to-none". He went on to say that engines now produced in TMMAL are to go into eight Toyota-brand models of the 12 Toyota and Lexus models produced in North America, thus furthering Toyota's commitment to localizing production.

TMMAL-produced 2.5-liter and 2.7-liter four-cylinder engines will go into the all-new 2012 "Camry", "Highlander", "Sienna" and "Venza". Toyota subsidiary Bodine Aluminum, Inc. (Bodine Aluminum), which produces the cylinder heads and blocks for the four-cylinder engines, has increased its production capacity accordingly at its plants in Troy, Missouri and Jackson, Tennessee.

At TMMAL, the production represents an additional investment of approximately 147 million U.S. dollars and approximately 240 new jobs, and at Bodine Aluminum, 25 million U.S. dollars and approximately 60 new jobs.

TMMAL, at the line-off ceremony and during its 10th anniversary celebration the previous night, expressed its appreciation to the local community for ten years of support. As a symbol of this appreciation, TMMAL donated a Sienna and a "Tundra"―both with TMMAL-produced engines―and a total of 200,000 U.S. dollars to local-area welfare, healthcare and cultural organizations.

TMMAL was established in 2001 as TMC's first outside-Japan V8 engine plant for trucks and SUVs. After starting production in 2003, it added V6 engines to its lineup in 2005, and, in January 2008, reached a cumulative engine production of one million units. The introduction of four-cylinder engine production is intended to meet expected steady market demand for vehicles equipped with such engines and to increase the autonomy of TMC's operations in North America.
Outline of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc.
Location Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A.
President Jim Bolte
Establishment June 2001
Products (capacity)* Four-cylinder engine (approx.216,000 units/year)
V6 engine (approx.146,000 units/year)
V8 engine (approx.144,000 units/year)
Land area Approx. 800,000 m2
Start of production April 2003
Employees* Approx. 970
*As of August 31, 2011
Outline of Bodine Aluminum, Inc.
Location Head office St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
St. Louis Plant St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
Troy Plant Troy, Missouri, U.S.A.
Jackson Plant Jackson, Tennessee, U.S.A.
President Robert W. Lloyd
Establishment 1912 (1990: Start of TMC investment)
Products Aluminum castings
Land area St. Louis Plant Approx. 45,000 m2
Troy Plant Approx. 320,000 m2
Jackson Plant Approx. 800,000 m2
Start of production January 1993 (for Toyota parts)
Employees* Approx. 1,020
*As of August 31, 2011