Toyota Alabama announced that it achieved two significant milestones this month as part of an ongoing expansion, a $288 million project originally announced in March 2019.

The milestones include the start of production for the all-new, redesigned 4-cylinder engine at the Huntsville facility, and the closing in of the plant’s new 150,000-square-foot V-6 engine assembly line.

“These milestones represent significant achievements and further demonstrate Toyota’s long-term commitment to build where we sell,” said Toyota Alabama President Dave Finch.

“By boosting production capacity and flexibility, our dedicated workforce can better serve customers and position our operations for stability and future success,” he said.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama in Huntsville will be the automaker’s largest engine production center in North America when its expansion is complete in 2021. (contributed)

Expansion No. 5

When the expansion is complete in 2021, the plant will add 450 jobs. Toyota’s investment at the Alabama facility will climb to a total of $1.2 billion, solidifying the Huntsville plant as the automaker’s largest engine production center in North America.

Toyota Alabama supplies engines for one-third of all Toyota vehicles assembled in the U.S.

The latest expansion is the plant’s fifth since it began engine production in 2003. Annual engine capacity will increase 34% to 900,000, while total employment at the facility will top 1,800.

“Toyota has long been a pillar in our booming automotive industry, with its Huntsville engine plant operating in near-constant expansion mode since it launched production,” said Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield.

“Over the years, we have developed a special relationship with this world-class automaker and, working together, we will build a brilliant future right here in Alabama,” he said.

Mazda joint venture

Meanwhile, Toyota is teaming with Mazda to build a $1.6 billion joint venture assembly plant just miles away in another Huntsville location. Production, split evenly between the partners, is expected to begin in 2021.

Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, as the venture is known, will employ 4,000 workers at full production.

The Alabama Department of Commerce and AIDT, the state’s primary workforce development agency, have joined area governments and organizations to support the project, which was announced in January 2018.

This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.