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Toyota investing $200M in Southern manufacturing

Over the past two years, Toyota has invested more than $2 billion at its North American production facilities, and it apparently doesn't plan on stopping there. To keep up with recent strong sales, Toyota is investing an additional $200 million at its engine plants in the Southern US to increase production capacity of its V6 engines.
The bulk of this money ($150 million) will go to expand Toyota's engine plant in Huntsville, AL, which is currently responsible for supplying engines - four-cylinder, V6 and V8 - to eight of Toyota's 12 domestically produced vehicles. That includes the best-selling Toyota Camry (shown above).
Toyota didn't say exactly what improvements are being made to the plant, but this follows last year's $80 million investment in the plant that is set to be completed by next year raising the engine capacity to 750,000 annual units including 362,000 V6s. The remaining $50 million will go to the casting plants of Toyota-owned Bodine Aluminum in Missouri and Tennessee, which supply engine blocks and cylinder heads to the Huntsville engine plant as well as others in Kentucky and West Virginia. Scroll down below for the official press release.

Lexus celebrates 10 years of F performance with special RC F, GS F

Ten years ago, Lexus launched its F performance brand in a big way with the V8-powered IS F. To celebrate its decade-long life so far, a pair of also-V8-powered Lexus F models, the RC F and GS F, will get special editions. Sadly, they don't get any performance upgrades over the normal models, but they are visually striking. Both cars are finished in a matte paint called Nebula Gray, which the company says makes these special Lexus models the only ones to receive factory matte paint besides the LFA. The wheels are painted in a gloss black, and the brake calipers are painted a bright blue to match the F brand's colors. The F badges on the outside of the car also get little blue lines around their edges. Inside, both cars go wonderfully overboard with blue highlights. They each get bright blue leather seats with gray accents, blue suede shift knobs, and window switch panels adorned with blue, silver, and black carbon fiber. Naturally, serial number plates also appear inside to denote which example the car is. The GS F, despite being a more sober looking sedan, has the wilder interior. The back seats get blue leather highlights to match the fronts, the dash is wrapped in blue suede, and more blue carbon fiber trim is fitted to the center console. These 10th-anniversary edition cars are extremely limited production. Only 240 of the RC F will be produced, a number chosen because there are 240 Lexus dealers in the U.S. Only 100 of the GS F will be sold. They'll be available to purchase this summer, but Lexus hasn't finalized pricing for the cars. Related Video:

Toyota will roll out solid-state battery EVs globally in a couple of years

GANDHINAGAR, India — Japan's Toyota Motor will in a couple of years globally launch vehicles with solid-state batteries that charge faster and last longer, an executive said on Thursday at an investment summit in India. Solid-state batteries promise to dramatically improve the driving range of electric vehicles (EVs), a key element of a strategic pivot Toyota unveiled in June to make up ground lost to Tesla and Chinese rivals, such as BYD, in the EV race. Last year, Toyota and oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan said they would tie up to develop and mass produce all-solid-state batteries, which they aim to commercialize in 2027 and 2028, followed by full-scale mass production. "We will be rolling out our electric vehicles with solid state batteries in a couple of years from now," said Vikram Gulati, the India head of Toyota Kirloskar Motor. It "will be a vehicle which will be charging in 10 minutes, giving a range of 1,200 kms (750 miles) and life expectancy will be very good". Gulati was speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit where one focus of the Indian government is attracting more investments to scale up EV manufacturing capacity in the world's third largest auto market. At the start of the summit on Wednesday, Japan's Suzuki Motor said its Indian subsidiary and Toyota partner Maruti Suzuki would export the group's first battery EV to Japan and Europe — marking the first time for Maruti to export to its parent company's home country. Electric models made up around 2% of India's car sales last year, but the government is targeting 30% by 2030 and India's road transport minister said at the summit he sees annual EV sales in India reaching 10 million vehicles by 2030. On Toyota's plans for solid-state batteries in India, Gulati said the carmaker had various sustainable technology options that would differ based on the country, market and customer preferences. "Right now, for India, flex fuel and ethanol can be a no-brainer right away," he added India's trade department has backed lowering taxes on hybrid vehicles to help the transition to cleaner energy sources, following demands by Japanese carmakers, Reuters has reported. Gulati said the Indian government should consider a carbon-based tax structure for cars, which would make it technologically agnostic and more equitable.  Green Lexus Suzuki Toyota Electric