Toyota's Princeton, Ind. Plant Produces 3 Millionth Vehicle

The Evansville Courier and Press reports that a silver Sienna minivan had its proverbial 15 minutes of fame Tuesday to mark a significant milestone at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana (TMMI). The minivan is the 3 millionth vehicle to roll off the line at the Gibson County plant since production began in 1998. In honor of the occasion, workers took the vehicle off the line for a media event. Production of the Sienna, which was ranked first in minivan sales in the U.S. for 2011, began at the TMMI plant in January 2003. Also produced at the production facility are the Sequoia sport utility vehicle and the midsize Highlander sport utility vehicle. The plant began production in 1998 with the Tundra pickup. "Everybody's a part of this," said Norm Bafunno, president of TMMI. "It's a tribute to everyone's hard work." The milestone is especially significant, Bafunno said, because the Sienna was America's top-selling minivan in the U.S. in 2011, the first time the vehicle had achieved that mark. The Princeton plant is the only one in the world that produces Siennas. Read more about the plant and the vehicles it produces at AIADA's microsite, www.whatisanamericancar.com. For more on the plant's milestone, click here.