Toyota just upped the stakes to remain the top manufacturer of hybrid vehicles worldwide with a US$373.8 million ($509.8 million) investment in five U.S.A manufacturing plants that will support production of its first American-made hybrid powertrain and to implement Toyota's New Global Architecture (TNGA) at its Alabama plant. Each of the projects is scheduled to begin this year and all should be operational by 2020.

The investments will include adding new production of hybrid transaxles (hybrid vehicle transmissions) at the manufacturing facility in Buffalo, West Virginia; expanding 2.5-litre engine capacity at the plant in Georgetown, Kentucky; increasing production of 2.5-litre cylinder heads at Bodine Aluminum's plant in Troy, Missouri; and modifying the Bodine plant in Jackson, Tennessee, to accommodate production of hybrid transaxle cases and housings and 2.5-litre engine blocks.

The plant in Huntsville, Alabama, will undergo a comprehensive upgrade to enable it to build engines that complement TNGA. The 2.5-litre engines manufactured in Kentucky and transaxles made in West Virginia will be used in hybrid vehicles built in North America such as the Highlander Hybrid manufactured in Princeton, Indiana. Toyota remains the world leader in petrol-electric hybrids, surpassing three million sales in the U.S.A and 10 million globally.