Bodine Aluminum, a foundry group wholly owned by Toyota Motor Corp., will increase capacity at its Jackson, TN, foundry to produce an additional 120,000 transmission cases and 120,000 transmission housings annually, in line with Toyota’s plan to raise capacity for six-speed automotive transmissions.
The increases are described as an extension of an $8.4-million expansion plan at Bodine reported in February 2011, in support of a $64-million program to raise output of six-speed transmissions at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia Inc. (TMMWV) to 400,000 by the end of 2012. Now, Toyota aims to produce up to 520,000 six-speed transmissions at TMMWV by mid 2013.
TMMWV builds six-speed automatic transmissions for Toyota Avalon, Camry, Sienna, Venza, and Lexus RX 350 models built at Toyota assembly plants in North America. The revised capacity figure raises the cost of the investment at TMMWV by approximately $45 million to an estimated $109 million.
At Bodine Aluminum the value of the capital investment will increase by approximately $10 million to an estimated $18.4 million. Toyota indicated it would result in 25 new jobs at Bodine.
Bodine Aluminum is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota, having been acquired in 1990. It operates a foundry in St. Louis to cast engine brackets and carrier covers. A Bodine foundry in Troy, MO, manufactures cylinder heads and cylinder blocks. The Jackson, TN, foundry produces aluminum cylinder blocks and automatic transmission parts.
In 2009, Toyota began a $25-million expansion plan at the Jackson foundry to increase capacity for aluminum four-cylinder engine blocks, for Camry and RAV4 models built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama Inc. at Huntsville, AL.
Toyota added that its capital investments will continue to emphasized local production to support its manufacturing operations.