Rendering of Toyota facility in Liberty NC

Oct. 31. Toyota has announced plans to invest an additional $8 billion in its electric battery manufacturing site in Randolph County, including hiring another 3,000 employees. Toyota’s total investment in the Randolph County site is approaching $14 billion and more than 5,000 jobs.

“North Carolina’s transition to a clean energy economy is bringing better paying jobs that will support our families and communities for decades to come,” Gov. Roy Cooper said.

Cooper met with Toyota President Koji Sato during the SEUS/Japan Conference in Tokyo earlier this month.

“This investment reflects our commitment to electrification and carbon reduction, and it enables jobs and future economic growth for the region,” said Sean Suggs, president of Toyota North Carolina.

Background

Toyota initially announced the Liberty, NC project in 2021 with plans at the time calling for $1.29 billion for electric vehicle battery production and 1,750 new jobs.

Liberty is about 100 miles northeast of Lake Norman.

As the market shift to electric vehicles industry wide has accelerated, Toyota has increased its investment in North Carolina.

According to Toyota, the new investment will increase capacity for electric vehicle battery production and will add new capacity to also produce batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles. The investment will add eight production lines will be added to the two lines previously announced.

Earlier in October, Gov. Cooper led North Carolina’s delegation to the Southeast US/Japan (SEUS/Japan) economic development conference in Tokyo to continue to build relationships with Japanese business leaders, including the leadership of Toyota.