Autoblog

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana (TMMI) has just announced that it will eliminate a portion of its temporary work force by the end of the year. Not a huge number of employees are effected, but it's definitely important news for the 370 workers who will no longer be needed, some of which we're told had been working for Toyota in Indiana for years.

TMMI says the workers had been used to help start up the San Antonio plant, and were also used for pilot production programs on the Sequoia SUV and Tundra pickup. Once full-scale production starts up, the pilot workers are no longer needed. Declining demand for the Sequoia also contributed to the decision, according to Kelly Dillon, a TMMI spokesperson. TMMI has used a company called Personnel Management to acquire these temporary workers, and is working with the agency to help find other jobs for them. The employees got their pink slips this week. None of TMMI's regular work force of 4,700 is effected by the layoffs. Personnel Management will still have a contract with TMMI to supply 1,000 to 1,200 workers at the facility.

Thanks for the tip, Will!

[Source: Evansville Courier & Press]

Good things are coming in 'threes' for Toyota lately. Autoblog just hipped readers to the pending third birthday of its triumvirate of Scion offerings earlier today.

What's more, three of Toyota's American plants are reaching some milestones of their own this year. The plants include:

• Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky (TMMK), celebrating its 20th year as the company's first U.S. plant. It currently manufactures the Avalon and Camry/Solara.

• Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana (TMMI), which builds the Sequoia, Sienna, and Tundra, celebrates its 10th year.

• Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia (TMMWV) is celebrating its 10th year as well. The plant provides engines and vehicles for a variety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

Plant employees and management will be joined by officials from their hometowns (Georgetown, Princeton, and Buffalo, respectively) to commemorate the occasions. Toyota Motor Corp. currently employs over 38,000 workers in the U.S./Canada, and has created nearly 400,000 jobs in the U.S. according to the Center for Automotive Research.

[Source: The Auto Channel]