Toyota readies U.S. production of Lexus ES by 2015

By Dhanya Skariachan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp plans to assemble the Lexus ES 350 sedan at its Kentucky plant in 2015, marking the first time the Japanese automaker has built a vehicle from its luxury lineup in the United States.

Toyota said on Friday it will invest $360 million at the Georgetown factory, which makes the Toyota Camry and other models. The move will generate 750 new jobs and boost the plant's production capacity by 10 percent to 550,000 vehicles.

Expanding U.S. production fits in with Toyota's strategy to make cars in the markets where its customers live. The move also counters the effect of the strong yen, which has made exporting from Japan expensive.

"This decision is in line with two key goals," Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota, said during a news conference in New York. "First, to serve our U.S. customers. And second, reduce the effect of the exchange rate on our customers."

The U.S. market is the world's largest for luxury vehicles. Lexus launched the brand in the 1990s and was embraced by the American "baby boomers", but the brand has been struggling to attract younger buyers.

As a result, Lexus is overhauling the design of its vehicles to compete with the likes of Hyundai Motor Co . Since 2012, Lexus has been using a pinched-in-the-middle "spindle" grille on models, including the GS, ES and RX.

"Now as a part of our global expansion, we have to speak to a broader audience," said Mark Templin, executive vice president of Lexus. "And what better way to do that than to put a much stronger and sharper focus on design."

BUILDING WHERE SOLD

Seven out of every 10 vehicles Toyota produces in North America is sold in the region.

The ES sedan was the second most popular Lexus model in the United States last year after the RX sport utility vehicle. The ES accounted for 9.2 percent for entry-level U.S. luxury car sales in 2012, according to data from Kelley Blue Book.

Currently, the company does not sell the ES in Japan, but makes the model at a Kyushu plant in southern Japan. That plant will continue to build the ES and export it to other regions besides North America.

Toyota will start producing a new model in late 2014 in Kyushu, the automaker said in a statement, without specifying the model name.

In New York, Toyoda said moving production to avoid problems, such as the supply disruptions the company faced in March 2011 when an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Converting overseas profits back into the yen has pinched profits. The yen's decline since last year has not changed that strategy.

Toyoda declined to comment on about whether other models, including the Prius, could be built in the U.S. market.

He added Kentucky has become a "very competitive" plant. The company has been offered $146.5 million worth of tax breaks from Kentucky to add production capacity at the Georgetown plant, a source told Reuters on Thursday.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in New York; Writing by Deepa Seetharaman in Detroit; Editing by Chris Reese and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/toyota-readies-u-production-lexus-es-2015-154115241--finance.html

Regions Bank westboro baptist church lakers ny times Boston Marathon Results pangolin Ball Bearings