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Hoosier State
Touts Major Projects

Indiana is another hot state for automotive manufacturing facilities, new and expanded. The Indiana Dept. of Commerce counted 25 new investments in automotive facilities in 1999, totaling $1.4 billion. More major new investments were announced in 2000.

DaimlerChrysler Corp. (DCC) announced in October that it would invest $455 million in its Indiana Transmission Plant (ITP) in Kokomo, Ind., to produce a Mercedes-Benz developed transmission -- the first example of component sharing between the Chrysler Group and Mercedes-Benz since the merger of Chrysler and Daimler-Benz in 1998.

DCC will expand ITP by 600,000 sq. ft. (55,700 sq. m.) and will build the Mercedes-Benz W5A580 transmission for use in future Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products. The company will break ground on the new facility later this year, with production slated to begin in 2004. The new facility will have the capacity to produce 400,000 W5A580 transmissions annually.

DaimlerChrysler is also renewing its presence in New Castle, Ind., where the company is razing a 475,000-sq.-ft. (44,100-sq.-m.) structure and replacing it with a modern $77 million facility, where workers will continue to produce automotive components.

In December 1999, Toyota an-nounced plans to expand its vehicle assembly plant near Princeton, Ind., adding 2,000 new, high-wage jobs. The expansion will nearly double the number of jobs at the facility.

Toyota's initial foray into Indiana was in 1995 with a new assembly plant for the new Tundra pickup truck. In 1998, while that facility was still under construction, Toyota decided to expand it to also build the Sequoia SUV.

The latest expansion, estimated at $800 million, will bring Toyota's total capital investment in Gibson County to $2 billion and its total work force there to 4,300 people. Toyota also employs 475 Hoosiers at its forklift facility in Columbus, Ind.

"The support received from Indiana was integral to our decision to expand," said Teruyuki Minoura, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America (TMMNA). "It is a partnership which will reap dividends for both Indiana and Toyota."

The Indiana Dept. of Commerce provided incentives worth up to $28 million to help attract the new facility. This includes a $2.4 million Training 2000 grant and up to $25.6 million in EDGE (Economic Development for a Growing Economy) tax credits.

In September, Subaru-Isuzu Automotive announced plans to expand its Lafayette, Ind., engine assembly plant, a $167 million effort. Engine production in the new plant is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2002.