(August 25, 2014) Toyota says it will spend $100 million to boost production of the Highlander SUV at its southwestern Indiana factory, with plans to add 300 workers in the next couple of years. Company officials announced Friday the project would allow it to build up to 30,000 more Highlanders a year at the factory near Princeton, about 25 miles north of Evansville.

The Highlander has been bumping against its production ceiling at the Indiana assembly plant. Sales of the U.S.-built Highlander are up 18 percent for the first seven months of this year to 81,374. That excludes a small and declining volume of Highlanders (2,121 units this year) that are still being imported from Japan.

The Princeton factory is the sole builder of Highlanders in North America, and also exports the midsize SUV to Australia, New Zealand and Eastern Europe. The factory now has about 4,700 workers and also produces Sienna minivans and Sequoia SUVs.

Source: Press reports