Toyota is preparing for the expectation that fuel prices will continue to climb in the next several years and demand for smaller engines will increase. To that end, the company's Huntsville, Alabama engine plant will add a new line to build four-cylinder engines. The 2.5-liter and 2.7-liter engines will be used in the Camry and RAV4. The new engine line will go alongside a line that builds V6 and V8 engines for the Tundra and Tacoma pickups.
When we spoke to new Toyota North America president Yoshi Inaba recently, he indicated that the parent company wanted to give the various regions around the world more autonomy. This would help to reduce dependency on currency and economic fluctuations. The extra four-cylinder capacity in North America will reduce the need for imported engines. Aluminum castings for the new engines will come from Toyota-owned Bodine Castings in St. Louis, Missouri. The plant will have capacity for 216,000 engines a year from mid-2011.
[Source: Toyota]
PRESS RELEASE:
TMC's Alabama, U.S.A. Plant to Build 4-cylinder Engines
Tokyo - TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announces Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc. (TMMAL), which currently builds V6 and V8 engines for Toyota pickup trucks built in North America, will also build four-cylinder engines, starting in the summer of 2011.
This move is intended to meet expected steady demand for vehicles equipped with four-cylinder engines and to increase the autonomy of TMC's operations in North America.
Specifically, TMMAL will build 2.5-liter and 2.7-liter inline, four-cylinder engines at a pace of approximately 216,000 units annually for use in the "Camry" produced at Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. and in the "RAV4" produced at Toyota Motoring Manufacturing Canada, Inc. TMC subsidiary Bodine Aluminum, Inc. will supply the cylinder heads and engine blocks for the engines. The new production means an additional TMC investment in TMMAL of approximately 147 million U.S. dollars and an additional TMC investment in Bodine Aluminum of approximately 25 million U.S. dollars. It also means approximately 240 new jobs at TMMAL and approximately 60 new jobs at Bodine Aluminum.
TMMAL was established in 2001 as TMC's first outside-Japan V8 engine plant. After starting production in 2003, it added V6 engines to its lineup in 2005, and, in January 2008, reached a cumulative engine production of 1 million units.
Outline of TMMAL
| Company name | Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc. |
| Location | Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A. |
| President | Jim Bolte |
| Establishment | June 2001 |
| Products (capacity)*1 | V6 engine (145,000 units/year) V8 engine (216,000 units/year) |
| Land area | Approx. 80 hectares |
| Start of production | April 2003 |
| Number of employees*1 | Approx. 800 |
Outline of Bodine Aluminum
| Company name | 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 (capacity) | Aluminum castings | |
| Land area | St. Louis Plant | Approx. 4.5 hectares |
| Troy Plant | Approx. 32 hectares | |
| Jackson Plant | Approx. 80 hectares | |
| Start of production | January 1993 (for parts for TMC use) | |
| Number of employees*1 | Approx. 760 | |
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