Toyota's North American Camry Hybrid Production Will be in Georgetown, Ky.

GEORGETOWN, KY — Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America (TMMNA) announced on May 17 that the company's first North American gas-electric hybrid production will be at its Georgetown, Ky., plant – Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK) – when production of a Camry hybrid begins in late 2006. TMMK will have the capacity to build approximately 48,000 Camry hybrid vehicles per year. The addition of hybrid production to TMMK will include a $10 million investment in the plant. TMMK was established in 1986 and is Toyota's largest plant in North America. It employs approximately 7,000 team members and currently builds the Camry, Avalon and Solara. The plant has the capacity to build 500,000 vehicles annually. Since its inception, TMMK has built nearly 6 million vehicles, and the plant's current investment is nearly $5.3 billion. Toyota expects capacity and employment to stay the same at TMMK with the addition of the Camry hybrid. The production of these hybrid vehicles will take place on the plant's existing lines, and no new construction is planned. Specific vehicle details on the Camry hybrid will be released at a later date. The Camry hybrid joins a growing Toyota and Lexus hybrid lineup in the U.S., which currently includes the Toyota Prius and the Lexus RX 400h luxury hybrid sport/utility vehicle (SUV), which reached dealerships in April. Next month, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid mid-size SUV will go on sale, and the 2007 Lexus GS 450h hybrid luxury sedan is targeted for sale in the spring of 2006.