Toyota to build Camry in Indiana

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced Monday that the Toyota Camry will be built at Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. (SIA), directly creating about 1,000 jobs.

The news is part of a collaborative agreement announced between SIA parent Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI) and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), a FHI stakeholder.

About $230 million will be invested to install Camry manufacturing processes in an existing SIA line capable of producing about 100,000 vehicles annually. Camry production at SIA begins in Spring 2007.

With this additional capacity and other expansions underway, Toyota will have North American annual production capacity of about 2 million cars and trucks by 2008.

Camry production in Indiana replaces imports and provides Toyota with the ability to build more of the popular car. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK), which builds Camry, will support SIA by providing training on Camry processes. Parts and materials for the Indiana-built Camry will be sourced and procured by Toyota.

"Toyota and Subaru are tremendous corporate citizens who have boosted our economy in Indiana. Now, we will be the first state with Toyota vehicle production in two different plants," Daniels said.

"We are pleased to further boost localization by moving Camry production in Japan to the United States. It's a win-win situation for Toyota and SIA, and for our suppliers whose businesses will grow," said Gary Convis, president of TMMK. "This will be the same high quality and reliability that have made Camry the best-selling U.S. car. We have the highest confidence in SIA to help us continue to meet our customers' expectations."

"For over 16 years, SIA associates have been building high quality Subaru vehicles in Indiana," said Tom Easterday, senior vice president of SIA. "Today's announcement that we will add production of the Toyota Camry at SIA in 2007 reaffirms that SIA has an outstanding workforce that is prepared to meet the challenges of a very competitive automotive market. All associates at SIA look forward to working closely with Toyota on this project."

Currently, SIA builds the Subaru B9 Tribeca, Outback, Legacy and Baja. SIA produced about 120,000 Subarus in 2005. The Subaru B9 Tribeca will move to the production line where the Outback, Legacy and Baja are currently built to make room for the Camry.

Toyota established operations in North America in 1957 and currently operates 14 manufacturing plants including two under construction. There are more than 1,700 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sell more than 2.5 million vehicles a year. Toyota directly employs over 38,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $16.8 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 $26 billion. According to a 2005 Center for Automotive Research study, Toyota, along with its dealers and suppliers, has generated nearly 400,000 U.S. jobs, including jobs created through spending by direct, dealer and suppliers employees.

Toyota produces 10 vehicles in North America, including the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Sienna, Solara, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra and the Lexus RX 330. By 2008, Toyota will have the annual capacity to build about 2 million cars and trucks, 1.44 million engines and 600,000 automatic transmissions in North America.