Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia Inc. (TMMWV) will increase production of six-speed automatic transmissions at its engine and drivetrain manufacturing plant in Buffalo, W. Va. The $64-million project will increase the operation’s output to nearly 400,000 transmissions annually.
Details of the expansion program were not released. The new operations will be in production by the end of 2012.
TMMWV is an operating subsidiary of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing that builds four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines for a wide range of Toyota cars, and five-speed automatic transmissions for the Toyota Camry, Solara, Sienna and Lexus RX 330, and six-speed automatic transmissions for Avalon, Camry, Lexus RX350, Sienna and Venza.
According to Toyota’s statement, project will increase total employment at the plant by 40, to approximately 1,100, and it will raise the automaker’s total investment in the West Virginia operation to $1.26 billion since it was established in 196.
In line with the transmission plant expansion, Toyota indicated that its wholly owned aluminum foundry, Bodine Aluminum, will be the object of a $8.4-million investment to increase production of transmission cases and housing parts by more than 320,000 units annually. The expansions will take place at Bodine’s foundries in Jackson, Tenn., and Troy, Mo., and result in approximately 20 new jobs.
As with the TMMWV expansion, the start of production of the new Bodine installations is projected by the end of 2012.
