Toyota is opening 350 more new jobs for its Alabama engine plant as the Japanese automaker invests $4282 million to expand production operations for its combustion engine lineup.
The 350 new positions are set to add to the current 2,000 employees employed to build more differentials, rear axles, and other drivetrain products for multiple car brands, Automotive News reported.
So far, Toyota has already supplied 770,000 internal combustion engines for the Corolla Cross, Highlander, Sienna, RAV4, Tacoma, Tundra, and Sequoia models last year.
Toyota Charges New Investments in the US Car Industry
Aside from producing more engines for its car brands, the new roles are set to help lessen Alabama's unemployment rate which has grown from 52,004 in April 2023 to 70,884 last March.
This is the third time Toyota has expanded its company size for this year alone, following operation boosts in its factories in Kentucky and North Carolina.
Toyota is among the US's biggest foreign job generators over the past three years as it continues to pour billions of dollars in investments into the industry, especially when local automakers have started laying off more workers.
Toyota Unveils New Strategy for EV Production Goals
The internal combustion engine production expansion is not the only strategy Toyota has been cooking up as it aims to boost operations in the US.
Last week, Toyota partnered with fellow Japanese automakers Subaru and Mazda for the Engine Reborn initiative, a partnership poised to help the carmakers build new EV engine supplies.
According to Reuters, the "electrification" collaboration is expected to help decarbonize its current engine lineups by producing alternative fuel sources like e-fuels and biofuels.
The project is expected to establish Toyota's presence further in the US EV market.
The automaker is already poised to begin its EV battery production in its $13.9 billion giga-complex in North Carolina starting next year.
