Explosive 2017 Toyota Highlander Sales Result In More American Jobs

American's preference for theToyota Highlander prompts Toyota to add 400 more jobs in Indiana.

The Toyota Highlander is one of the top-selling three-row crossovers built in America. The popular SUV is growing rapidly in sales and Toyota's American manufacturing force will need to expand by about 400 jobs in the Indiana plant to keep pace with the demand.

Toyota said this week that in addition to the jobs, Toyota will need to augment its current plant to the tune of about $600 million. This is part of the $10 Billion that Toyota plans to invest in American manufacturing locations over the next decade.

Toyota Highlanders sales are not growing at a steady rate. Although the sales were up about 21% overall for 2016, in December the Highlander increased its sales from 16K in December 2015 to over 25,000 units. That is an amazing 300,000 units per year pace. As evidence that this is way beyond what the general industry is seeing we will point to November sales for the Highlander. In that month, the Highlander outsold the Honda Pilot by 2 to 1.

There are many reasons that the HIhglander is so successful, but one in particular, is the Highlander's top-rated safety scored by IIHS. Another is the fact that the Highlander has one of the best (lowest) real-world driver death ratings of any vehicle in the U.S. market. The Highlander has also had a new engine and transmission update that puts it ahead of the pack in fuel efficiency and power.
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