Toyota will invest $1.4 billion USD in its assembly complex in Princeton, Indiana. This investment will be used to start production of a new three-row electric vehicle at the plant.
As reported by Automotive News, the plan will add some 340 jobs to the 7,500 already existing at the facility.
There’s no confirmation yet regarding what model will be built there, but there is speculation. And it points to it possibly being a modified version of one of the vehicles the plant already produces, rather than a new creation.
On the other hand, a spokesman did say the model will be one bearing the Toyota logo (and thus not a Lexus), and that it will be larger than the new three-row electric SUV the company is planning for 2026. Production of that EV, to be called the bZ5X, is due to start next year at Toyota's Georgetown, Kentucky plant.
Toyota says the $1.4 billion inflow of cash will allow for setting up the plant infrastructure to build the electric vehicle in the existing eastern part of the site, which is currently used to manufacture the Highlander SUV and Sienna minivan.
Indiana plant president Tim Hollander said the new vehicle will be based on a traditional chassis rather than the skateboard-type platform typical of electric models, in which the battery becomes the structure. Above all, it will be built with existing vehicles. He also stated that production capacity will remain the same.
Also, the money being invested in Indiana is also meant to create a new assembly line. It will produce modules using lithium-ion batteries supplied by Toyota's $13.9 billion battery plant under construction in North Carolina. The battery plant, which will supply components to Toyota and Lexus vehicles in North America, is scheduled to begin operations in 2025.
In addition to the Highlander and Sienna, Toyota's Indiana plant also manufactures both the Grand Highlander and its cousin, the Lexus TX. For the moment, nothing has changed with regard to the manufacture of those models.
It’s worth noting that sales of the new Grand Highlander have caused those of the Highlander SUV to decline. This adds weight to reports that the first new three-row electric model will be an electric Highlander.
This is all still highly unconfirmed, of course, but there’s no doubt that Toyota is planning an active next few years on the electrification front.