Toyota Motor Corp will shift production of its Highlander hybrid sport-utility vehicle from Japan to Indiana, where the company will invest $400 million and add 400 new jobs.

The Japanese automaker also plans to export some Highlanders to other countries. Production of the hybrid SUV will likely begin in the second half of 2013.

The move is part of Toyota's broader strategy to create an export hub in North America, partly as a way to soften the impact of the strengthening yen. Toyota now exports about 100,000 vehicles made in the United States each year, including its Camry sedan and Sienna minivan.

"There are so many North America-specific products that can fit in other markets as well," Yoshi Inaba, president and chief operating officer in charge of Toyota's North American operations told reporters during the Chicago Auto Show. Toyota now makes the Highlander and Sequoia SUVs and the Sienna minivan in Princeton, Ind., where the company now employs nearly 4,000 workers. With the expansion, Toyota will be able to build an additional 50,000 hybrid and gas-powered Highlanders.

The soaring yen makes it cheaper to buy commodities and potentially buy overseas assets, but it also diminishes earnings from major auto markets such as the United States. In November, President Akio Toyoda said the company may "deepen alliances with suppliers and dealers" to offset the yen.

Inaba touted the economic impact of the expansion and said each auto job would create three and a half "spinoff " jobs. Last year, Toyota opened a new plant in Mississippi to make Corolla cars that were built in Japan, creating 2,000 new jobs.

"An export usually stabilizes your production, so that is good for the economy," Inaba told reporters.

Toyota is readying a burst of new models due in the United States this year that the automaker hopes will help it regain lost ground after a tough 2011 marred by production losses in the wake of the March earthquake in Japan.

Last week, Toyota officials noted that competition in North America has stiffened this year as the Detroit automakers improve their quality.