Toyota plans to extend U.S. hybrid manufacturing to fulfill what the automaker says is robust demand for the autos.

The automaker not too long ago introduced a brand new meeting line at its Georgetown, Kentucky, plant for two.4-liter turbocharged and a pair of.5-liter naturally aspirated inline-4 engines utilized in hybrid powertrains for each the Toyota and Lexus manufacturers.

Representing a $145 million funding, the road will be capable of produce three completely different engine sorts concurrently, in line with a Toyota press launch, making the Kentucky plant the one Toyota meeting plant in North America with this functionality. Toyota mentioned the plant provides engines to 6 of its seven North American car meeting vegetation.

2024 Toyota Tacoma Restricted

The Georgetown advanced can also be scheduled to start out producing hydrogen fuel-cell modules later this yr. A report earlier this yr mentioned Toyota may additionally begin EV manufacturing in Kentucky in 2025. For now, although, hybrids are the main focus.

Among the many autos utilizing the two.4-liter turbo-4 is the redesigned 2024 Toyota Tacoma hybrid. Revealed this week, the mid-size pickup truck’s so-called i-Drive Max hybrid variants are essentially the most highly effective, reflecting Toyota’s choice to place the hybrid powertrain as a substitute for a bigger engine, slightly than a play at general excessive gasoline financial system.

Toyota grew to become synonymous with hybrids because of the Prius, and buyer curiosity in them has remained robust. House owners of Toyota hybrid fashions maintain their autos for a very long time, due to their confirmed longevity and reliability, a 2020 report discovered.

Toyota engine meeting in Georgetown, Kentucky

Toyota has additionally expanded use of hybrid powertrains throughout its lineup. The Sienna minivan, Crown sedan, and Venza crossover are actually all-hybrid, although the Sienna is the one a kind of that is U.S.-built.

With Toyota’s final complete replace on the way it sees the U.S. market shifting towards electrification, it nonetheless noticed 85% of its gross sales being of autos with tailpipes by the top of the last decade—with 30% of the lineup by then nonetheless with none type of electrification. So a versatile engine meeting line just like the one coming on-line in Kentucky is consistent with the automaker’s forecasts.