Buffalo, W.Va. — Toyota Motor Corp. announced Thursday it will add a production line dedicated to hybrid powertrains at its West Virginia facility in a $240 million investment.
The announcement comes nine months after the Japanese automaker said it would invest $210 million at the plant in Buffalo, West Virginia, and add 100 new jobs to expand capacity of its four- and six-cylinder engine lines.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia is celebrating 25 years of producing engines and transmissions. The latest upgrade will enable the plant to play a bigger role in the automaker’s production of electric vehicles in North America.
“The investment will fund targeted improvements that will increase our flexibility and competitiveness, allowing us to be in a better position to directly respond to shifting customer demand for higher efficiency vehicles,” said Srini Matam, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia.
The automaker said it is committed to offering electric vehicles across its lineup of Toyota and Lexus vehicles by 2025.
Toyota said last month it plans to build a new $1.29 billion factory in the U.S. to manufacture batteries for hybrid and fully electric vehicles.