Toyota adding jobs to support electric vehicle production

Toyota Motor North America says it will add 220 jobs as part of its push to increase electric vehicle manufacturing

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) — Toyota Motor North America will add 220 jobs as part of its push to increase electric vehicle manufacturing, the automaker said.

The engineering jobs will be added to Toyota’s Production Engineering Division, which serves as go-between for design and manufacturing, the company said. The new employees will be part of Toyota's efforts to look for ways to make electric vehicle manufacturing more efficient.

“As we ramp up our plans for additional electrified products in North America, we must have the resources and talent in place to lead that transformation,” said Brian Krinock, a Toyota senior vice president, in a statement.

The new jobs will be spread across Toyota's North American manufacturing plant locations, the company said. Toyota said 117 of the new positions will be based in Kentucky.

Toyota’s Production Engineering Manufacturing Center, in Georgetown, Kentucky, is headquarters for production engineering and is currently home to nearly 800 engineers.

Last year the automaker announced new investments totaling $5.1 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations to support electrification efforts.