The joint-venture car factory Mazda and Toyota builds in Alabama have just become more expensive. The two companies have agreed to invest another $ 830 million in the plant, increasing total costs from the initial $ 1.6 billion to about $ 2.3 billion. In their press release, the companies note that the money will improve production processes and accommodations for design changes to cars built there.
The companies announced the factory back in January 2018. Both companies will build a crossover model. Details are too poor, but we know they are both new models that have not yet been announced or posted. The Mazda crossover will be a North American-specific model that should go into production in 202. Toyota initially planned to build Corollas at the plant, but changed course to a crossover a little later.
The factory will be able to produce as many as 300,000 cars per year, equally divided between Mazda and Toyota for 150,000 per piece. The companies plan to hire 4,000 people to work there, and 600 have already been hired. Applications for production tasks will be accepted later this year, and there are no reports of major delays in the pandemic, so we expect Mazda’s production goals have not really changed.
