Toyota to expand Indiana plant, add 400 jobs

CHICAGO (AP) — Toyota says it will expand its factory in Princeton, Ind., and add 400 jobs so it can build more Highlander SUVs.

The hiring and expansion will come next year.

Toyota says it will invest $400 million in the factory to build 50,000 more Highlanders per year. The plant built more than 101,000 Highlanders last year. The company says it plans to stop making Highlanders in Japan and move that production to Indiana

After the changes, Toyota will be able to build about 255,000 Highlanders a year in Princeton and in China.

The Princeton plant in southern Indiana now employs nearly 4,000 people who make Sienna minivans and the Highlander and Sequoia SUVs.

Toyota sold more than 101,000 Highlanders in the U.S. last year, up nearly 10 percent from 2010.