TOKYO: Toyota Motor will start making two battery-powered sport utility vehicles (SUVs) at its US Kentucky plant, as part of a move to improve manufacturing efficiency and better serve market demand, says the Japanese automaker.
It will assemble two new three-row battery electric SUVs it plans to make at Toyota Kentucky, Toyota Motor North America said in a statement, adding it is “strategically transitioning” production across its Kentucky and Indiana plants.
“Toyota Indiana will continue to assemble the Grand Highlander in its west plant and add assembly of the vehicle to its east plant to accommodate increased production volume,” the company said in the emailed comment to Reuters.
The electric vehicles it plans to build in Kentucky will be based on the RAV4 and the Land Cruiser, said a source.
Toyota will end production of the ES sedan of its luxury Lexus brand at the Kentucky plant. The next-generation version of the model, due next year, will be manufactured in Japan, as the company announced in 2021.
In the United States, Toyota makes Lexus ES sedans at its Kentucky plant and Lexus TX SUVs at its Indiana facility.
On Tuesday, the Nikkei newspaper reported Toyota would consolidate production of Lexus in the United States to a single location in the face of high tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
In response, Toyota said the information was not something announced by the company, adding that it continually reviews its production structure as part of efforts to make ever-better cars. — Reuters
