Economy Slows, Investment Continues - Jaguar, Toyota, BMW invest in new plant expansions - Brief Article

Automotive Manufacturing & Production, March, 2001

Jaguar, Toyota, and BMW are moving Forward with major capital investments. This despite a slowing economy, and softer U.S. auto sales.

Jaguar: $360 million will be spent to manufacture the Ouratec V6 at Ford's Brigend, Wales plant. The engine will be used in the S-Type and the upcoming X-Type sedans. This engine line will be operated as a Premium Automotive Group plant within a plant, and eliminate the need to ship V6 engines From Ford's Cleveland, Ohio engine plant.

Toyota: Adding Four-cylinder powertrain capacity and moving production of the RX300 SUV's V6 engine and automatic transmission from Japan to its Buffalo, West Virginia plant. The company also is investing $220 million in a new VB plant in Huntsville, Alabama.

The V6 engine and automatic transmission combination will be the first Lexus powertrain to be built outside of Japan, and used in RX300s produced at Toyota's Cambridge, Ontario plant. The $50 million expansion in Four-cylinder capacity, meanwhile, adds 40,000 units. These engines are earmarked For 2003 model year Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe sport wagons produced at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California. The new VB plant will come online in the summer of 2003, and provide engines for the Full-size Tundra pickup. It will be located on a 220-acre site, and have the capacity to produce 120,000 engines per year.

BMW: Adds a 189,000 Ft. [2] body shop and a $3 million office area in the assembly department that will increase space on the Factory floor. Both projects should be completed by early summer. They Follow last year's completion of an automated warehousing/sequencing center, the addition of a second stacker system the for temporary storage of painted bodies, a covered parking area For completed vehicles, an information technology systems center, a new vehicle packing system, and a new-and closer-parking area for workers.