ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Technical Center USA, Inc. (TTC) announced today that it has signed a purchase agreement with the State of Michigan for property being offered by the State of Michigan. The approximately 690 acre parcel of land owned by the State of Michigan is located at the North West corner of US 23 and Willis Road in York Township, Michigan.
TTC plans to expand its research and development operations to complement Toyota's increased localization and growth of manufacturing and sales in North America. TTC's current 106 acre Ann Arbor campus has limited space for future growth.
"We think the York Township property is large enough to give us the assurance of being able to plan for TTC's short term as well as long term growth," said Dr. Akihiko Saito, Executive Vice President, Toyota Motor Corporation. "The North American growth in sales opened the door for Toyota to establish our manufacturing operations which in turn supported the localization of our R&D presence. The York Township property will provide adequate space to conduct our engineering and research for Toyota's core North American vehicle development programs."
The purchase agreement allows TTC to move forward with due diligence activities and obtain various approvals, which include zoning changes and site plan approval by York Township. The goal is to close on the property and begin facility construction in the spring of 2006 if all the due diligence activities are successfully completed. The first development phase is targeted for a capital investment of $150 million and will add 400 new jobs by 2010.
"The State of Michigan has been very active throughout this process and we appreciate the strong support. We believe Michigan is the optimum place for Toyota to expand its home base for North American engineering, development and research operations," said Mr. Yasuhiko Ichihashi, President of Toyota Technical Center USA, Inc.
Established in 1977 and headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, TTC is Toyota's North American Research and Development Center. TTC is engaged in engineering design, prototype building, vehicle evaluation and engineering, materials engineering, powertrain tuning and design, regulatory affairs (including EPA emissions certification) and technical research. TTC has been responsible for the development and engineering of Toyota vehicles manufactured in North America including the Camry, Solara, Avalon, and Sienna. TTC engineers are currently developing the next generation Tundra.