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A major vehicle manufacturing company is set to create thousands of jobs and invest over a billion dollars into North Carolina, making it the largest capital investment in state history, ABC 11 reports.
Toyota USA will construct an automotive lithium battery manufacturing plant on an 1,800-square-foot plot in the Triad near US 421, the company's first in the U.S. The plant will make batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles created by the Japanese automobile manufacturer, about 1.2 million a year, in the hopes to reduced carbon emissions. The news outlet reports that Toyota plans to start production at the Greensboro-Randolph site in 2025 and create 1,750 jobs.
In October, the company announced its intentions to build a plant somewhere in the U.S. but didn't disclose where.
"Toyota's commitment to electrification is about achieve long-term sustainability for the environment, American jobs and consumers," Ted Ogawa, chief executive officer, Toyota Motor North Carolina, said at the time. "This investment will help usher in more affordable electrified vehicles for U.S. consumers, significantly reduce carbon emissions, and importantly, create even more American jobs tied to the future of mobility."
On Monday (December 6), the company, alongside Governor Roy Cooper, announced it has chosen North Carolina for the new project, per WRAL.
"Toyota could have chosen anywhere in the United States for this first battery place, and they chose us," said Gov. Cooper. "We're encouraging more electric vehicles on the road and in our state government fleet, and as all of this progress continues, the world will look at North Carolina as a hub of clean energy and clean energy jobs."
During the announcement, Christopher P. Reynolds, chief administrative officer, corporate resources at Toyota Motor North America, said the site, which will invest an initial $1.29 billion in the Randolph County site and $3.4 billion in the U.S., is just the beginning of the company's partnership with North Carolina.
"I'll be as clear as I can," he said. "This is only the first chapter of our story in North Carolina ... It's a very long book."