The automaker said Monday that no new factory jobs are being added, but the investment will sustain the existing 8,200 jobs at Toyota's largest plant, where almost one-fourth of all Toyota vehicles produced in North America are made.
The plant recently added an additional 700 workers to build the new 2018 Camry. (TMMK) the first plant in North America to begin producing vehicles using Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA).
In 2016, TMMK produced almost a quarter of the total number of Toyota vehicles produced in North America - over 500,000.
Toyota said the $1.3 billion is part of its plan to invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years. "So, again, all part of our long-term strategy, and we're just trying to continue to move forward and position this plant so that it can remain the largest Toyota plant in the world", he said.
Named the "Most American Made" auto by Cars.com and the number-one selling automobile in America for the past 15 years, the Camry will become the first US -made Toyota vehicle to fully incorporate the new vehicle development and production technology starting with the 2018 model year, said Toyota.
Toyota announced construction of its first wholly owned manufacturing facility in North American at Georgetown in 1986 after a full-court recruitment effort by the administration of Gov. Martha Layne Collins which offered extensive state incentives. The investments will also see much of the equipment at the factory updated and an all-new paint shop constructed.
Toyota's arrival in the United States ushered in a movement by US automakers to duplicate its just-in-time inventory management system, which required suppliers locate within about 400 miles of an assembly plant.
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Toyota cited a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research that the company commissioned, which found that the automaker directly or indirectly supports the employment of nearly 30,000 jobs in Kentucky.
Toyota says it's investing $1.3 billion in its Camry plant in Kentucky. The 2018 edition of the Camry will be the first USA -made vehicle to be built with the new vehicle development and production technology at the plant.
The Georgetown plant played a leading role in Kentucky, attracting more than 180 Japanese-owned manufacturing, service, and technology-related facilities.
The money will be spent over the course of the next two or three years and follows an already-existing $530 million project, authorized in 2013, to make a new Lexus vehicle.
"Today's announcement is welcome news for Kentucky's economy and our workforce", U.S. Senator and majority leader Mitch McConnell said in the release.
More than 4,000 Toyota employees are expected to move to the Lone Star State from Southern California - home of its current North American headquarters - as well as from NY and Kentucky.
"TMMK has been a first-rate community partner for Scott County and a provider of quality direct and indirect jobs for more than a generation", Judge-Executive Lusby said.
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