Toyota to Establish First Electric Vehicle Battery Plant in the US... Strong Drive in North American Market

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation is investing approximately $1.3 billion to build its first electric vehicle battery factory in the United States. Having entered the electric vehicle market relatively late compared to other automakers, Toyota aims to accelerate its North American electric vehicle market strategy through this investment.

On the 6th (local time), according to CNBC and Kyodo News, Toyota announced that it will invest $1.29 billion (about 1.5 trillion KRW) to construct an electric vehicle battery factory near Greensboro, Randolph County, North Carolina. This will be Toyota's first battery factory in the U.S., and the company plans to collaborate with Panasonic in building the battery plant.

Toyota plans to begin production in 2025 and gradually expand operations through 2031.

The company will install a total of four production lines at this factory, securing an annual production capacity of 800,000 electric vehicle batteries. Later, Toyota intends to add at least two more production lines to increase the battery production capacity to 1.2 million units annually.

Earlier, in October, Toyota announced plans to invest $3.4 billion (about 4 trillion KRW) by 2030 to produce batteries within the United States.

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), North Carolina and Randolph County are reportedly offering incentives worth $435 million (about 514 billion KRW) to attract the Toyota factory, which is expected to create 1,750 new jobs.

Meanwhile, North Carolina previously attempted to attract Toyota and Mazda's automobile assembly plant with a $1.6 billion investment in 2018 but failed repeatedly to secure automotive industry investments, losing out to Alabama.