Official: Lexus ES 350 to be Built in North America

Posted by Kevin on April 19th, 2013

At a press conference today in New York City, Toyota president Akio Toyoda & North American CEO Jim Lentz officially announced that the Lexus ES 350 will be built at the Georgetown manufacturing plant in Kentucky — from the press release:

The move will generate 750 new jobs. To support the new dedicated assembly line, Toyota will invest $360 million in the Georgetown plant.
 
About 50,000 Lexus vehicles a year will be produced, bringing the plant’s total annual production capacity to more than 550,000 vehicles. It will be the first time the ES will be assembled outside of Japan.

The ES is Lexus’s bestselling sedan, with approximately 58,850 vehicles sold in North America in 2012 — including 56,158 in the U.S.  Projections for Toyota’s production volume at the company’s Kyushu plant in Japan have not changed. The company remains committed to building 3 million vehicles per year in Japan, including Lexus models, as previously announced.

The press conference was broadcast online:

(The full transcript of the press conference is also available on the Lexus website.)

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Comments
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If my Chinese were as good as Akio's English...
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    Wooski
  • April 19, 2013
With the next Prius expected to be built in the US, presumably at some later point the ES300h will follow. The Auris (Corolla) hybrid is already built in the UK (although the hybrid drive trains may get shipped in from Japan)
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    F1orce
  • April 20, 2013
Only problem is that Lexus doesn't make much money of the ES Look at E-class it starts at over $10k more than ES in USA
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      BlackDynamiteOnline
    • April 22, 2013
    What are you babbling about? The ES uses a ton of Avalon/Camry parts, so through economies of scale, they save a fortune in production costs, and can still charge top dollar, with low incentives. What does the ES have to do with the E-Class? BD
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      F1orce
    • April 22, 2013
    But the new ES doesn't seem to share much parts with Avalon & Camry compared with previous generations! Also the ES is in the same segment as the E-class is it not?..
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    E class is a competition with GS. Mercedes has no true competition with ES.. and starting at $40,000 trust me there is a lot of profit to make.
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    BlackDynamiteOnline
  • April 22, 2013
This tells me high demand for the new ES may be part of the cause for this. If production isn't slowing in Japan, and this is an expansion, than why do this if demand isn't driving it? This is their way of saying they need more ES, without saying it...... BD
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    Toyohouse
  • June 4, 2013
you can say goodbye to the ES350 quality if is going to be built in the USA, good for the jobs but bad for Lexus ES350, What a shame. I will never buy a ES350 made in USA.

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