Toyota announced that it will bring production of engines and transmissions for the Lexus RX 300 sport/utility vehicle to its Buffalo, WV, plant. Last year, Lexus was the No. 1-selling luxury brand in the United States for the first time. Timing for Lexus engine and transmission pro-duction will coincide with the RX 300 vehicle production move to Toyota’s Cambridge, Ontario, Canada plant in 2003. Toyota will invest an additional $50 million for equipment and tooling to accommodate Lexus V6 engine and automatic transmission pro-duction, as well as to expand capacity of the four-cylinder line at the Buffalo plant by 40,000 engines annually. The four-cylinder line will add production for Toyota’s new Matrix, just introduced at the Detroit auto show, and for the GM Vibe, to be produced at New United Motor Manufacturing. Combined four-cylinder and V6 engine capacity will grow to 540,000 annually.
0 Comments