Canadian Autoparts Toyota Inc. (CAPTIN), a Toyota manufacturing affiliate that engineers and produces aluminum wheels, has broken ground on $31.6 million (U.S.) expansion, the company’s sixth expansion in 22 years.
The expansion, announced in June, will boost wheel capacity at the facility by nearly 17 percent to 1.68 million units per year, starting in July. Cumulative investment at CAPTIN will reach $188.1 million (U.S.).
The plant currently produces 22 wheel models for Toyota’s vehicles globally, employing about 230 workers. Following the expansion, CAPTIN will employ more than 260 workers.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Masanao Tomozoe, managing officer of Toyota Motor Corp., said CAPTIN’s growth and a new Toyota vehicle plant under construction in Ontario are direct results of the company’s strategy to build vehicles where they are sold.
“These two Canadian milestones are further evidence of our intention to localize production. And we intend to sell more in North America, which is good news for CAPTIN,” he said.
Gary Smallenberg, president of CAPTIN, pointed to the dedication of the plant’s employees for the expansion.
“We appreciate the confidence Toyota Motor Corp. has shown in approving the expansion of this plant,” he said. “The credit needs to go to our [employees]; this is a result of their commitment and effort to produce the best aluminum wheels on the market.”
Toyota currently has five vehicle-manufacturing plants and six power train and component plants in North America. In addition to the new plant under construction in Woodstock, Ontario, two others are being built in Texas and Tennessee.
By 2008, Toyota will have the annual capacity to build 1.81 million cars and trucks, 1.44 million engines and 600,000 automatic transmissions in North America. The company’s direct employment is 38,000, with direct investment of nearly $16.3 billion (U.S.).
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