A new Toyota and Mazda plant is opening down south.
UPDATE: February 11, 2019 at 12:53 p.m.
The Toyota-Mazda manufacturing plant is officially in the works. Crews broke ground at the end of 2018 on the 3.3 million-square-foot, $1.6 billion assembly plant. The plant is expected to launch production in 2021. Automative News reports that the plant could produce around 300,000 vehicles each year.
The production, as part of the joint venture, will be split to 150,000 of Mazda's new crossover model and 150,000 units of the 2020 Toyota Corolla for the American market. The Mazda model will be new to the North American market and will be monumental for the new plant.
Original article follows
Toyota and Mazda announced Wednesday their plans to build a $1.6 billion auto plant near Huntsville, Ala. on 2,500 acres. The carmakers say as many as 4,000 jobs could be created at the joint project.
But, as Fortune Magazine points out, Wednesday's announcement may only be the tip of the iceberg.
The original target for the construction site was just 1,110 acres. By more than doubling the size of their lot, Toyota and Mazda have built in plenty of room for the partnership project to grow to meet increased future demand.
The plant will initially produce Toyota Corollas and a new crossover from Mazda. But with the potential for expansion could easily add models in the future.
When the plant kicks into action, Alabama will become the South's largest car-producing plant. As production ramps up to full capacity, the state will push Indiana aside to become the No. 2 automaking state in the U.S. behind only Michigan.
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