MS Plant to Roll Out 1st Toyota Corolla

BLUE SPRINGS, Miss. - The first Corolla will roll off the assembly line during a ceremony this month at Toyota's northeast Mississippi plant at Blue Springs, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Toyota spokeswoman Barbara McDaniel says the event begins at 11 a.m. Nov. 17.

McDaniel says the event is invitation only.

She says invitations were mailed out this past week to members of the Tupelo community. She says more details about the event would be release later.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi is the company's eighth North American assembly plant.

With more than 1,200 workers now at the plant, Toyota Mississippi expects to employ about 1,500 by year's end.

At full capacity - when the plant is able to produce 150,000 vehicles a year - it will employ 2,000 workers.