BUFFALO, W.Va. — Toyota is going to add jobs and spend millions to update equipment at its large production plant in Putnam County.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia announced Thursday the addition of 100 jobs that will make up a third production shift for the line that makes 4-cylinder engines for Toyota’s Rav4 vehicles.
TMMWV President Srini Matam said increased demand for Rav4s will benefit the Buffalo plant.
“To support the engines for those Rav4s we’ve been asked to make about 5,900 more engines (a month). That’s about 70,000 a year. That’s a lot of new business,” Matam told MetroNews Thursday.
Toyota also plans to spend $210 million to upgrade the plant’s six-cylinder engine production line with new equipment and machinery. Matam said they will make the equipment as flexible as possible that will allow adjustments as the company continues to make its engines more efficient.
“We need to make sure that we can meet that demand. We don’t know what that’s going to be long-term but at least we want to make our equipment so flexible so that if there’s some future new technology engine or something that comes through we’re ready to build it,” Matam said.
The equipment investment and new hires mean the Putnam County plant will have more than 2,000 workers with a total investment since the plant opened in excess of $1.8 billion.
Gov. Jim Justice praised the company and the plant workers in a statement released by his office Thursday.
“This is such exciting news for West Virginia’s business community as well as our families that businesses are choosing to grow their organizations here. Toyota is a wonderful example of how a global company can be successful right here in West Virginia,” Justice said.
Matam said he looks forward to adding to the plant’s workforce.
“We’re part of supporting the community and 100 new jobs, 100 families to support. That’s a good thing for our community,” he said.
Toyota said the production upgrade and hiring would be completed by the fall of 2022. The third shift added for Rav4 engines will be the first third shift in engine production at the plant. Two other lines there already produce on three shifts.
Information on the jobs can be found at www.tourtoyota.com.