Toyota to invest $500 million to Boost US Sales

Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor Corp. is now planning to invest heavily in its plant in Indiana to upgrade its SUV manufacturing line after the sales of its car in the US hit a downhill turn.

Toyota has now filed the necessary documents for the upgrade at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. announced on Monday its biggest single investment for the year as it revealed expansion plans for its Princeton, Indiana SUV-assembly plant by investing some $500 million. The car company said that the upgrade is necessary to cope up with its dwindling sales in the North American market.

In a statement, Toyota executives said that the 48.4 billion yen or $500 million upgrade program is part of the 830 billion yen global expansion plans. The executives added that it has already filed a 174-page document and other necessary papers in the US Securities and Exchange Commission to begin the revamp.


Based on records, the budget for the overall operations of the Princeton plant is twice the amount the company spent for Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. plant in Indiana, which as makes the popular racing car Subaru. Toyota added a brand new assembly line in Fuji for its line of 2007 Camry sedan. The construction cost at least $230 million.


Records also showed that the recent investment by Toyota will be side by side with Honda Motor Co.’s $550 million investment for the year.


Toyota lost some 436.9 billion yen last year with a bigger drop expected this year. The company now is facing a huge debt servicing cost due to an idle plant in Mississippi. Other headaches that the company faces are the possible charges from General Motors Corp. following its withdrawal from a joint production line in a California plant.

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