Following criticism from President Donald Trump earlier this month, Toyota has announced it will add 400 jobs at its Princeton, Ind., plant, where it will invest $600 million. The announcement also comes on the heels of Trump’s meeting with auto industry executives where he urged automakers to prioritize U.S. car production.
Toyota says the investment was made to meet the increasing demand for the Highlander midsize crossover, of which the automaker sold more than 191,000 copies in 2016. The Princeton plant also produces the Sequoia SUV and Sienna minivan, and last year churned out nearly 402,000 vehicles. The investment, which will go toward new equipment and retooling, will result in 40,000 more Highlanders a year after the overhaul begins this fall. The move is part of a larger $10 billion investment in U.S. operations over the next five years that Toyota announced at the recent Detroit auto show. The Princeton plant currently employs roughly 5,100 people.
In early January, Trump took to Twitter to call out Toyota on its plan to build a new plant in Mexico. The then President-elect mistakenly said the plant was destined for Baja. The actual site is Guanajuato, Mexico. The plant will build next-gen Corollas based on the flexible TNGA platform by 2019. Trump has so far only threatened a 35-percent tariff on goods manufactured in Mexico, despite the fact that the majority of current-generation Corollas are already built in Canada, the other country covered under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Toyota’s announcement makes no mention of the Guanajuato plant’s status.
Source: Toyota
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