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The
investment in the plant, Toyota's largest, comes amid
uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies
that could affect certain Japanese firms' capital expenditure
plans.
Trump criticized the automaker earlier this year and said he
would impose a hefty fee if it built its Corolla cars for the
U.S. market at a plant in Mexico.
Toyota joins a host of automakers including Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles <FCHA.MI>, Honda Motor Co <7267.T> and Daimler AG <DAIGn.DE>
that have announced investments in the United States since Trump
won the U.S. election.
Even U.S. car manufacturers Ford Motor Co <F.N> and General
Motors <GM.N> have announced plans to spend more domestically.
"Toyota's decision to invest $1.3 billion in their Kentucky
plant is further evidence that manufacturers are now confident
that the economic climate has greatly improved under my
administration", Trump said in the statement issued by Toyota.
Toyota said that the investment would help in its new production
process that would allow for a more flexible production
environment, helping its build better cars and respond quicker
to customers.
The Kentucky plant employs about 8,200 workers and Toyota
recently booted the count by more than 700 ahead of the launch
of the new version of Camry.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju
Samuel and Savio D'Souza)
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