In the oldest part of Toyota’s first U.S. assembly plant, where 40 years’ worth of Camry sedans have sprouted from disparate boxes of parts into finished vehicles, something that was long considered an industry pipe dream is coming into focus.
The Japanese automaker will have the ability — or more accurately, the flexibility — to make almost any vehicle it needs, when it wants and all on the same line.
A nearly $1.8 billion, decade-long project internally known as “K-flex” and initially undertaken as an innovative experiment in what could be done, is transforming the original part of the Georgetown plant, known as Line 1, into perhaps the most flexible auto assembly line in the world.
How flexible? With the right logistics support, Line 1 will be able to build almost any Toyota vehicle designed on its TNGA-K global platform — the top-selling Camry and RAV4, whether hybrid, combustion or plug-in hybrid; larger crossovers including the Highlander and even the Sienna minivan, as well as skateboard-based EVs in that size range.
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