Toyota will invest $803 million and add 1,400 new jobs at its Princeton, Ind., automotive manufacturing plant. The investment will allow the company to produce two all-new, three-row SUVs, one of which will be the first Lexus made at the plant. Although the vehicles will be announced at a later date, both will join an electrified product portfolio and help the company get another step closer to its global aim toward carbon neutrality by 2050. The investment will be used to prepare the manufacturing line for the new vehicles and to provide production-employee training and supplier re-tooling at their facilities.
Since the first Tundra rolled off the production line in 1998, Toyota’s total investment at the Princeton site is $6.6 billion. The facility currently assembles the all-hybrid Sienna minivan, Highlander/Highlander Hybrid SUV and Sequoia full-size SUV. It has the capacity to assemble more than 420,000 vehicles annually.
The new SUVs will include a semi-automated driving system allowing for hands-free driving in certain conditions, a remote parking system allowing the driver to park and unpark from outside the vehicle using a smartphone, and a digital key that turns a user’s smartphone into their key and allows them to share it digitally. Both the Lexus and Toyota versions will offer seating for up to eight passengers.
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