Toyoda Gosei expects U.K. employment to grow

ROTHERHAM, England (April 12)—Japanese auto components producer Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd. expects employment at its new automotive weatherseal plant in Rotherham to quadruple in the next three years, to 500 or more, according to company officials speaking the unit´s grand opening. The $46 million plant produces rubber weatherseals for car doors and windows for Toyota Motor Corp. plants in nearby Derbyshire, England, and in northern France and for Honda in Great Britain. The Japanese group´s first plant in Europe, which is operated by Toyoda Gosei U.K., will create 400 jobs over the next three years; the plant employs 120 at start-up, producing weatherseals for the Toyota Yaris and Honda Civic. "We plan to develop TGUK into the core of TG´s weatherstrip strategy in Europe," said Tokio Horigome, Toyoda Gosei president, said at the opening.