Buffalo (W.V.) Toyota engine plant shipping engines to Japan

[kostby]

Fascinating!

NUMMI Vibe and Corolla engines were built at the Buffalo WV Toyota engine plant.

So now that NUMMI won't be building anything, they have an excess supply of engines.

Canada can't build enough Corollas to satisfy the demand, so Toyota will have to ship US-built engines to Japan, install them in Corollas, and ship the finished cars back here.

And it's probably STILL cheaper for Toyota than continuing to build cars in regulatory and tax-disadvantaged California!
Excerpts from the article:

Quote, originally posted by Charleston WV Daily Mail »

Monday December 7, 2009 Buffalo engines bound for Japan by George Hohmann, Daily Mail Business Editor BUFFALO, W.Va. - Toyota's plant here is going to start shipping 4-cylinder engines to Japan, said Mike Lutz, the plant's general manager of administration. ... The Buffalo plant, which manufactures engines and transmissions, currently ships 4-cylinder engines to a Toyota Corolla auto assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario, and to a plant in Fremont, Calif., that also assembles Corollas. The California plant was a joint venture with General Motors known as New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. or NUMMI. Until earlier this year, NUMMI also assembled Pontiac Vibe autos for GM that had 4-cylinder engines made at Buffalo. ... After much anguish, Toyota announced in August it would end production at NUMMI in March. Lutz said about 55 percent of the Buffalo plant's 4-cylinder engines have been going to NUMMI and about 45 percent have been going to Ontario. So the question for Buffalo was, what would become of its 4-cylinder production capacity? One answer came when Toyota decided to expand its Ontario plant. That factory will continue to take some of Buffalo's 4-cylinder engines. Lutz said that even with the expansion the Ontario plant cannot meet the demand for Corollas. Therefore in April, soon after the NUMMI closure, Buffalo will begin shipping engines to Toyota's Takaoka Plant near Tokyo. ... The Buffalo engines bound for Takaoka will be placed in shipping containers and trucked to either Georgetown, Ky., or Columbus, Ohio, then moved by rail to the West Coast, where they'll be loaded onto ships bound for Japan. ... Some Corollas assembled at Takaoka will be shipped to North America for sale, Lutz said. ...

Link to full article --> http://www.dailymail.com/Busin...cache

[jake75]

Steve Cole Smith also said in that article "The test Vibe was a base model, but had the optional 2.4-liter, 158-horsepower four-cylinder engine. I prefer the standard 1.8- liter, 132-horse four-cylinder, not just for its lower cost, but for its better fuel mileage. The power difference isn't that noticeable."

I have never tempted myself by test driving a 2.4L but from everything I read here Mr. Smith's credibility is severely compromised by that statement.

[ParknVibe]

I would like to know if the Buffalo plant was (is) making the 2.4L engine for the 2009-2010 Vibes? Does anyone know for sure? I did not know that Toyota was making power trans in the US of A. Does this mean that the Vibe is more a USA make then half Japan made?

Thank you

[455SD]

Nope,
Georgetown, Kentucky builds the 2.4 AZ engine, we build the 1.8 ZR. Glad to be exporting , and yes, Vibe is more domestic than overseas.