Toyota said on June 17 that it is resuming construction of a Mississippi plant that had been halted in December 2008 when the North American auto market hit the skids.
The plant in the southern state will build the Corolla compact sedan beginning in the second half of 2011, the company said, adding it would soon hire 2,000 workers.
"Toyota remains committed to making vehicles where we sell them and to maintaining a substantial manufacturing presence in North America," said Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America.
With the move, nearly all Corolla units for the North American market will be built in North America, the company said. Since April, some of them have been built in Japan.
The site originally had been planned to assemble the Prius hybrid vehicle, which has been built exclusively in Japan.
Toyota had invested $300 million before suspending construction on the plant when it was 90% complete.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
