In the largest dollar investment for the commonwealth this year, Toyota Kentucky will build a new $922 million advanced paint facility at its Georgetown, Ky., campus that is designed to improve operational efficiencies, reduce environmental impacts and enhance the quality of vehicle finishes.
The facility is slated to open in 2027 and will add 1 million square feet of capacity while decreasing carbon emissions by 30 percent and water usage by 1.5 million gallons per year.
Toyota Kentucky officials said the new paint facility will give customers more color options but will also reduce production lead time, improve process accuracy, further support plant efforts to increase flexibility for future vehicle production and continue Toyota’s goal to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. It is not expected to add jobs to the Scott County campus. The central Kentucky site is about 16 miles north of Lexington, Ky.
It’s the second-biggest announcement made about the Toyota Kentucky campus—already the automaker’s largest global manufacturing plant—this year. In February, Toyota said it would invest $1.3 billion to bring assembly of an all-new, three-row battery electric SUV to the U.S. market in 2026. Although it didn’t add new jobs to the campus which employs nearly 10,000 people, the company said it would help with future EV production, including with addition of a line to assemble battery cells into packs for use in other EVs.
The investments are being rewarded with major incentives from the state. The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority provides as much as $267.5 million in cumulative tax incentives based on the creation of at least 8,950 jobs per year at the site, paying a minimum of $31.89 per hour, according to the Louisville Business First publication. If it meets its annual targets, the company is eligible to keep part of the new tax revenue it generates, the publication reported.
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Since breaking ground at the Georgetown site in 1986, Toyota has invested more than $11 billion in the manufacturing complex. Toyota Kentucky is currently assembling some of the most popular vehicles in the Toyota lineup, including the Cambry hybrid and RAV4 hybrid.
Toyota EV investments
Toyota Kentucky became the carmaker’s first U.S. plant to manufacture hybrid EVs in 2006. It was later selected to assemble fuel cell modules for use in hydrogen-powered, heavy-duty commercial trucks. The plant is also important to Toyota’s global electrification strategy which aims to offer electric or hybrid versions of every vehicle model by 2025.
Since Toyota Kentucky opened in 1988, more than 12 million vehicles have been manufactured there. Current production capacity is approximately 550,000 vehicles and 600,000 engines annually, according to Gov. Andy Beshear’s office. More than 100 of the 350 suppliers across the nation serving Toyota are located in Kentucky, the governor’s office added.
Since 2020, Toyota has announced new investments of more than $20 billion into its U.S. manufacturing operations to support electrification efforts. Increasing battery electric vehicle production in the U.S. advances Toyota’s portfolio approach to electrification.
In October, Toyota made an $8 billion investment at its 1,825-acre North Carolina EV battery manufacturing plant in Liberty, N.C., near Greensboro, N.C. The investment will add 3,000 jobs for more than 5,000 jobs and create a 7 million-square-foot campus equal to 121 football fields. It boosted Toyota’s investment in the Triad region to nearly $14 billion and solidified Toyota North Carolina’s position as the company’s epicenter of lithium-ion battery production in North America, according to the company. It was the third expansion for the megasite since Toyota first unveiled a $1.3 billion investment in 2021.