Toyota will sell U.S. built 2012 Camry sedans in South Korea

Toyota has just announced plans to export U.S. assembled 2012 Camry sedans to its distributor in South Korea - with roughly 6,000 units annually being sent to South Korea beginning next year.

The Camrys will be built by workers at Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Georgetown, KY, their largest manufacturing facility outside of Japan. The plant employs nearly 7,000 Americans directly, while creating nearly 20,000 additional positions via vendors and suppliers in Kentucky and other states.

The Toyota Camry has repeatedly been the top selling car in U.S. for 13 of the past 14 years and a globally popular vehicle. This marks the first time the U.S. built Camry will be sold outside of North America. The cars will begin to arrive in South Korea next January.

Toyota first began exporting U.S. built vehicles during 1988. These exports increased 30% in calendar year 2010 to approximately 100,000 units. Toyota now exports vehicles built in the U.S. to 19 countries around the globe. They have already begun exporting Sienna minivans made in Indiana to South Korea last month. Other exports include the Kentucky-produced Avalon sedan, the Indiana-produced Sequoia SUV and the Texas-produced Tacoma and Tundra pick-up trucks.

“We are pleased with the reaction the redesigned Camry is receiving from our customers, and the sales success it is having in the U.S. and overseas,” said Yoshimi Inaba, president and COO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. “The export of thousands of Camry vehicles to South Korea is an important development that builds on the great work of our talented U.S. team members as well as our extensive investments across North America to help maintain a strong, stable base of U.S. jobs. We look forward to other opportunities to continue growing exports from our American operations.”

For the past three years, the Camry has also been named the “Most American Car” in Cars.com’s annual American Made Index. The 2012 Camry went on sale this fall with technologically advanced features, a contemporary design, improved performance and fuel efficiency, plus a somewhat refined ride and handling.

The Camry is produced at Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Ky. as well as at Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. in Lafayette, Ind.

Just last week, Toyota announced the Camry and Camry Hybrid topped sales of Toyota’s passenger cars in the U.S. in November with monthly sales of 23,440 models, an increase of 8.5 percent over a year-ago on a daily selling basis.

When the Camry is exported to South Korea, it will ship from the Port of Hueneme, near Oxnard, Calif. They exports apparently do not include the hybrid model.

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