Toyota To Boost U.S. Transmission Production

Toyota said Friday that it will spend $102 million to increase U.S. production of transmissions. The company said that it will boost its automatic-transmission assembly and machining capacity at its Buffalo, W. Va., plant, as well the capacity at its powertrain plant and Bodine Aluminum casting facilities in Missouri and Tennessee.

ERLANGER, Ky. (AP) — Toyota said Friday that it will spend $102 million to increase U.S. production of transmissions.

The company said that it will boost its automatic-transmission assembly and machining capacity at its Buffalo, W. Va., plant, as well the capacity at its powertrain plant and Bodine Aluminum casting facilities in Missouri and Tennessee. The project will create more than 100 jobs.

Toyota said the investment is needed to meet increased domestic demand.

Of the overall investment, $90 million will go to its West Virginia operations, where it will create 80 new jobs, Toyota said. The company's operations there now employ 1,300 people. The investment will boost its production from 500,000 transmissions per year to 740,000 per year in 2015.

Bodine Aluminum, a Toyota casting part manufacturing facility, will invest $11 million at its Troy, Mo., plant and $1 million in Jackson, Tenn., to provide transmission cases and housing parts to Toyota West Virginia. The project will create 25 jobs in Missouri.

Toyota said that Friday's announcement marks its eleventh manufacturing investment in North America over the past 21 months and represents more than 4,000 jobs created.

The company's North American manufacturing and engineering unit is based in Erlanger, Ky.

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