Toyota to increase V6 engine production in Alabama
18 May 2012
Toyota will invest approximately $80 million its Huntsville, Ala. engine facility to increase North American production of V6 engines. The investment will bring total plant investment to more than $700 million.
The expansion will allow Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Inc. (TMMAL) to build an additional 216,000 engines each year, boosting total V6 annual capacity to 362,000. A new 300,000 sq. ft. building will be constructed. The increased production will begin in March 2014.
TMMAL currently assembles 4-cylinder, V6 and V8 engines for eight of 12 Toyota North American built vehicles. TMMAL is the only Toyota plant globally to produce these three types of engines in one facility.
This investment will increase engine production at the Huntsville plant to more than 700,000 annually, and will increase total Toyota engine production in the US to more than 1.4 million per year. Toyota also builds engines in Kentucky and West Virginia.
This V6 line addition continues to reflect our growing optimism for an improving North American market, and we continue to study more localization in North America.
—Steve St. Angelo, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
Not so sure that is a the right decision. Increased production of much lighter up-to-date 4 cyls with compressors (as Hyundai and others did) could have been wiser?
Posted by: HarveyD | 18 May 2012 at 07:34 AM
Youre right Harvey.
What does Toyota know.
These auto makers are all out of touch.
Toyota sells too many different models;
the Tundra, Land Cruiser, Highlander, FJCruiser, Camry, plus a dazzeling array of small cars and Prius and now obsolete V6s.
And they sell too many of each.
They are doomed.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 18 May 2012 at 09:05 PM
Never have, never will "get" V6s. So much more complication and heat and space, for so little gain.
Posted by: fred | 19 May 2012 at 03:06 PM
It sounds like TT would buy a V-16 vehicle if it was available.
Posted by: HarveyD | 20 May 2012 at 10:46 AM
The main reason may be to satisfy an American (bigger is better) on-going addiction? Toyota's V-6 do not sell that well in Japan.
Posted by: HarveyD | 21 May 2012 at 05:52 AM