Key points:
- Toyota expand EV mission with $90 investment, is the company playing catch-up?
- The investment will be spread across two main facilities, West Virginia and Tennessee
- CEO looks forward to the company's shift towards an electrified future
Toyota (NYSE: TM) stock edged slightly higher in mind-market Friday trading, helped by the news that the company will be expanding its electric vehicle manufacturing with a $90M investment across its two large facilities. In a tightening race to meet demand, carmakers are faced with little other option than to invest heavily in electric technology to adapt to the changing landscape of transport.
The company will be investing $73M in the Toyota West Virginia plant, hot on the heels of the $240M investment announced in October. The further investment will increase the production of hybrid transaxle vehicles to 600,000 units per year. The funding will also facilitate the assembly of 120,000 rear motor stators per year, which is a key component in the functionality of electric motors.
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The West Virginia team currently boasts an impressive 2,000 strong team, building roughly 1M engines and transmissions for many of Toyota’s North American-assembled vehicles. Following today’s $73M investment, the factory has seen a total investment of more than $2B.
A further $17M investment has been made at the company’s Tennessee plant, increasing the production capacity of hybrid transaxle cases and housing to 1.3M per year. The plant currently produced nearly 1M transmission cases and housings and around 1.8M engine blocks per year.
David Rosier, President of TMMWV, stated:
“Toyota is moving quickly toward an electrified future, and West Virginia will play a critical role in that journey…Our team embraces this challenge, and it's clear Toyota has faith in our ability and trusts us to take the company to new heights.”