(Reuters) -Toyota said on Tuesday it would invest $1.3 billion at its Kentucky facility for electrification efforts, including assembly of a new, three-row battery electric SUV for the U.S. market.
The project brings the plant's total investment to nearly $10 billion.
The move comes at a time when legacy automakers such as Ford (NYSE:F) have pulled back from their electric vehicle (EV) ambitions to focus more on higher-margin hybrid and gasoline-powered models.
The investment will support the Japanese automaker's previously announced battery electric vehicle assembly in Kentucky.
It also adds a battery pack assembly line to the facility, with batteries being supplied by Toyota (NYSE:TM) Battery Manufacturing North Carolina.
"We are grateful that they (Toyota) continue to invest in our commonwealth," said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
The Kentucky plant, a key hub for the Japanese automaker, provides employment to about 9,400 workers and assembles as many as 550,000 vehicles a year, including its popular Camry sedan.
Toyota also raised its full-year operating profit forecast by nearly 9% earlier in the day, after its third-quarter earnings raced past analysts' estimates thanks to a weaker yen and strong sales of high-margin cars and hybrid vehicles.