NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Automotive supplier Denso says it will invest $1 billion in its Maryville, Tennessee manufacturing plant, and create more than 1,000 new jobs.
The investment is intended to make the plant the Japanese company's primary manufacturer in North American for electrification and safety systems.
The Maryville expansion comes atop a $400 million investment announced by Denso in 2015 to consolidate warehouse operations at a gain of 500 jobs.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has said the small Denso plant that opened in his hometown in 1988 with about 100 workers -- when he was governor -- was a consolation prize of sorts after Tennessee lost out to Kentucky for a Toyota assembly plant.
Today about 3,200 people work at the Maryville facility and 1,400 others at another Denso complex in Athens, Tennessee.