Toyota sets start-up date for Mississippi plant
New plant to build Corolla beginning in Fall 2011
June 17, 2010 – Blue Springs, Mississippi - Toyota is resuming construction
of its Mississippi plant, which will soon hire 2,000 team members and build the
Corolla compact sedan beginning in the fall of 2011.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour plans to visit Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi
(TMMMS) today to meet with Northeast Mississippi community leaders and Toyota
officials.
This decision to begin production with Corolla enables TMMMS to open as quickly
as possible. Also, by beginning production with Corolla, nearly all Corolla for
this market will be built in North America. Some of the Corolla for North America
have been built in Japan since April.
“Toyota appreciates the patience of Gov. Barbour and all Mississippians,
but we first needed to fully utilize our existing facilities as the economy slowed.
Now it’s time to fulfill Toyota’s promise in Mississippi,” said
Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America.
“Toyota remains committed to making vehicles where we sell them and to maintaining
a substantial manufacturing presence in North America.”
The TMMMS building is essentially complete. Most of the remaining work involves
the installation of equipment. The administration office is already occupied by
about 60 team members. Details about the hiring process will be divulged later
this summer.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and currently
operates 13 manufacturing plants. There are more than 1,800 Toyota, Lexus and
Scion dealerships in North America which sold more than 2.05 million vehicles
in 2009. Toyota directly employs more than 35,000 in North America and its investment
here is currently valued at more than $23 billion, including sales and manufacturing
operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota's
annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American
suppliers totals more than $25 billion. Toyota currently produces 12 vehicles
in North America, including the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Matrix, RAV4,
Sienna, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra, Venza and the Lexus RX 350. For more information
about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com.
**A live satellite feed from the event at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi
(TMMMS) will be available for broadcast**
Feed time: 2:30-3:00pm EDT
AMC 15
Transponder 01 (KU Digital)
Downlink: 11720 Vertical
Symbol Rate: 26.470
FEC: 3/4
Data Rate: 39.705