Bodine Aluminum helps Toyota reach 10 million mark

Engine blocks and parts made at facilities in St. Louis and Troy, Mo., helped Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America reach the 10 million mark in engines produced.

The two local Bodine Aluminum facilities are among six nationwide that employ nearly 3,500 workers and reflect Toyota’s investment of $2.23 billion.

The St. Louis and Troy Bodine plants together employ 916 workers, have a capacity for 6,900 tons of aluminum and a total powertrain investment of nearly $400 million.

Bodine-St. Louis is one of the largest producers of aluminum sand and permanent mold castings in the United States, with more than 180,000 square feet of manufacturing area, 250 employees and a production capacity of 12.8 million pounds per year. Bodine Aluminum – Troy produces aluminum cylinder heads, intake manifolds and engine blocks for the Toyota Camry and Corolla.

Toyota Motor Corporate Services acquired Bodine Aluminum Inc. in 1990 and opened the Troy facility as a captive foundry to meet the need for premium-quality, defect-free, machined aluminum castings.

Bodine will open a new $164 million plant in Jackson, Tenn. Nov. 9 that will add 220 employees. That plant will also manufacture engine blocks and components.

Toyota’s other engine manufacturing plants are in Georgetown, Ky.; Buffalo, W.V.; Huntsville, Ala.; and Cambridge, Ontario.