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Toyota Establishes Toyota Research Institute Of North America

by Darren

Toyota announced a $100 million initiative to establish the Toyota Research Institute of North America. The Toyota Research Institute of North America will be added to the company’s existing facilities in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The $100 million will be spent on advanced research in the upcoming years.

The news means jobs for the Ann Arbor area..

Toyota already employs 35 researchers and staff that will comprise the new research institute, said Bruce Brownlee, senior executive administrator of external affairs for the technical center. Another 10 researchers will be hired this year and an additional 20 by 2010.

“Basically it will be collaborative research with partnerships in North America with universities and national labs,” Brownlee said. “The areas we are really working on are energy and the environment, mobility infrastructure … and safety.”

Toyota does not plan to add any additional facilities to its 100-acre, 500,000-square-foot campus in north Ann Arbor, Brownlee said.

The company is on track to employ 1,100 people in Ann Arbor by the end of 2008.