It's a big milestone here at the Toyota plant in Princeton. Production of the Highlander sport utility vehicle started this week.

"It's always exciting to have a new vehicle, something else coming down the line, something else to secure our jobs here," Mark Neikirk said.

And not only is it an exciting time to get a new vehicle, but Team Leader, Mark Neikirk says it's a sign of Toyota's confidence.

"The company has definitely stood by us. Everyone's worried with these times whether it's layoff or how secure our jobs are. Toyota's always assured us that our jobs are secured," Neikirk said.

Good news for the 4,200 people who work here.

This is the only Toyota plant in the United States that manufactures the Highlander. Before this week, they were all made in Japan.

"It's like a brand new addition to the family, and this is a very critical addition to the family, because when you look at the type, the amount of volume that we're going to be running with the Highlander vs. what we were running with the Sequoia," Wil James said.

Wil James is the Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Quality and Production Control. He says now they'll be running about three Highlanders for every Sequoia on this line. Eventually Toyota will make more than 300 Highlanders in just one day. It's good news for these workers, especially when the economy has been so rocky.

"We got to a point where we went down to one shift on both lines. We got to a point that we were operating nine days out of ten, so we had one day that we were off," James said.

Last year, when the Tundra was moved to Texas, the Princeton plant never let anybody go. James says they used that time to train employees. Now, the plant makes the Sequoia, Sienna, and the Highlander. It's a day these employees have been waiting for, and it's a sign of moving forward.

Toyota says as the vehicle sales increase across North America, they expect to hire more people at the Princeton plant. We also learned the plant will have a new Sienna coming out in January.