{{Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) 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 create 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,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda said at 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.
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