BLUE SPRINGS, Mississippi, April 26, 2018 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — It is springtime in Blue Springs, and plants – such as Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi – are growing. During a groundbreaking ceremony for Toyota Mississippi’s new visitor and training center, the company announced it would invest $170 million to build the 12th generation Corolla using Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA).

The TNGA investment enables the assembly plant to stay competitive globally.

“We will be able to respond quicker and be more flexible in order to meet market demands down the road,” said Toyota Mississippi President Sean Suggs. “I’m very proud of our team members and the partnerships we have developed across the state.”

Implementation of TNGA, along with an overall increase in production, will create 400 new jobs over the next 12 months. This investment directly supports Toyota’s plan to invest $10 billion in its U.S. facilities over the next five years. This investment brings the company to $4.27 billion of new investment in the U.S. since the commitment was announced in 2017. Toyota’s total investment in the U.S. over the past 60 years is $25 billion.

TNGA
The $170 million investment in the Mississippi assembly plant will include a complete replacement of the current production lines allowing the facility to produce advanced vehicles more efficiently and better adapt to changing market needs.

TNGA is a new approach to the way Toyota designs, engineers and produces its vehicles. While retaining traditional Toyota values, such as exceptional quality and safety, TNGA improves performance of all models, including providing more responsive handling and a more comfortable, enjoyable feel while driving. It also shortens the development cycle for vehicle improvements and new vehicles by providing a more flexible production environment.

Today’s announcement is another economic development win for the state of Mississippi. It brings Toyota’s investment in this facility to more than $1 billion since 2007.

“For more than a decade, Toyota has been a valued corporate partner to Blue Springs and the state of Mississippi,” said Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. “Toyota’s commitment to building a sense of community is illustrated by the company’s continued investment in its operations and philanthropic efforts throughout the region. This latest investment and addition of hundreds of new jobs reinforces Toyota’s dedication to excellence in Blue Springs for generations to come.”

New Jobs
Toyota will work with its hiring partner ResourceMFG to hire 400 team members to meet the growing demand for the world’s best-selling vehicle of all time, the Toyota Corolla.

“ResourceMFG will aid in recruiting approximately 400 new team members over the next 12 months,” Suggs said. “These jobs will support production of the all-new Corolla, and we are excited to build more of them for our loyal customers.”

Visitor and Training Center
Being competitive in the marketplace also requires both a strong workforce and talent pipeline. Toyota will continue “growing their own” by providing enhanced workforce development training at its new visitor and training center.

“Today is very exciting as we unveil the design and break ground on our future visitor and training center,” Suggs said. “Toyota knows that you have to put in the effort to get the results, and this is just the beginning of that effort.”

Local architecture firm JBHM designed a 15,000-square-foot facility to support the plant’s growing need to accommodate public visitors and workforce training.

• Training Center: Workforce development is the fuel that enables Toyota to be successful. The meeting and training space will accommodate up to 120 people and include state-of-the-art audio-visual technology.
• Public Gallery: The nearly 5,000-square-foot space will feature interactive exhibits, the Toyota Production System and environmental elements while highlighting the success story of the region and the state of Mississippi’s economic development.

Scheduled to open in November 2019, the visitor and training center will be open to the public five days per week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 36 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 47,000 people (more than 37,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2017 – and about 87 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 16 years are still on the road today.  

Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to assist more people move more places. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com. 

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SOURCE Toyota Motor North America