Toyota kicks off 2011 Sienna production

Toyota kicks off 2011 Sienna production

The all-new 2011 Sienna minivan production started at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana (TMMI) in Princeton, Ind. The Sienna has been fully redesigned to meet consumers’ needs. It was styled at Toyota’s Calty Design Research Center in Newport Beach, Calif., and developed at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. After having been underutilized the past year due to the economic downturn, things are looking up for Toyota’s Indiana plant, which produces the new Sienna and the Highlander model starting last October.

The 4,200 workers at the plant expressed confidence that improvements made during the economic downturn assure a successful Sienna and Highlander launch.

TMMI arrived at a crossroads in mid-2008 as Toyota experienced significant overcapacity in North America. To deal with the financial difficulties, Toyota consolidated production of the Tundra full-size pickup, which is originally built at TMMI, into its Texas facility.

Toyota also made a decision to start building the Highlander mid-size SUV in Indiana by late 2009. Before Highlander production started though, TMMI was temporarily left with only two vehicles - the Sienna minivan and the Sequoia full-size SUV - on its pair of assembly lines. As a result, TMMI was overstaffed for more than one year.