Toyota Motor Corp. announced Tuesday that it will build its second U.S. engine plant in the Alabama city of Huntsville as part of efforts to increase local content in products it sells in North America.
Production of V-8 engines for its Tundra full-size pickup, which it currently produces in Indiana, will begin in summer 2003 at the Alabama factory. It will be Toyota's first V-8 engine produced overseas.
The automaker said it will invest $220 million (about 25 billion yen) in the Alabama plant, which will be capable of producing 120,000 gasoline engines a year. It is also expected to create 350 jobs.
In late January, Toyota announced it would invest $50 million to expand engine production capacity at its plant in Buffalo, West Virginia, to prepare for the launch of its deluxe sport utility vehicle, the Lexus RX300, in 2003.