Team members at Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, Inc. (TMMWV) made company history by becoming the first outside Japan to build Toyota's automatic transmissions.

The milestone was celebrated during a ceremony for team members and company officials. The Buffalo engine and transmission facility now employs approximately 800 people. At full production, the 150,000 square foot transmission facility will have approximately 200 team members and an annual production capacity of 360,000 units.

The automatic transmissions will be installed in the Camry, built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky Inc. in Georgetown, KY, and the 4-cylinder Camry Solara, built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Canada Inc. in Cambridge, Ontario. In January, TMMWV announced that in 2003 it will also begin making V6 engines for the Lexus RX300 and 4-cylinder engines for the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe.

The RX300 and Matrix will be produced at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Canada Inc. in Cambridge, Ontario, while the Pontiac Vibe will be produced at the Toyota/GM joint-venture plant, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) in Fremont, CA.

The engine plant expansion will add another 200 jobs at TMMWV, bringing projected total employment to 1,000 team members by 2003. The TMMWV engine facility has been in production since December of 1998. Team members are currently building 4-cylinder engines for Toyota Corollas produced in Fremont, CA, and V6 engines for Avalons and Sienna minivans produced in Georgetown, KY.