BUFFALO, W.Va. — Toyota’s Ever-Better Expedition made a stop in West Virginia on its nationwide tour Tuesday to visit Buffalo’s plant.
The Putnam County plant was just one of many stops hoping to showcase and get feedback on Toyota’s latest products.
“The purpose of this is we have engineers from Japan and the United States that are on a 16,000 mile trip over 110 days,” said Toyota West Virginia President Millie Marshall. “They’re taking nine of our vehicles and driving across North America.”
The Ever-Better name is inspired by one of Toyota’s founders motto of making “Ever-Better’ cars. Engineer Nick Middleton said there’s a lot to like about the latest line of Toyota products.
“We’re using current production vehicles with all the latest technology,” Middleton explained. “Lane departure assist, dynamic laser cruise control, all our navigation, all our audio equipment. Anything you can get at the dealer today.”
One of the vehicles on display was a future model of a Sienna van shell built on Tacoma frame. The model isn’t mass produced yet but was there to show customers and employees.
“For our engineers the purpose is to not only talk to customers, but also to our team members to get feedback from them on the products that we build to make them even better than what we’re currently building,” Marshall said.
Other stops on the expedition will include New York City, Death Valley and Alaska.