Mazda Toyota Manufacturing unveiled the first vehicle in its production line up Wednesday – the all-new Corolla Cross.

The announcement follows Toyota’s earlier news in the day about the debut of its compact SUV based on the Corolla sedan.

Mazda Toyota also said the joint venture partnership is in a hiring boom to prepare for production on the Corolla Cross this year, along with an as-yet-to-be-announced Mazda vehicle.

“We are excited to manufacture the all-new Corolla Cross and I’m proud of our team members’ tremendous work in preparation for the start of production,” said Mark Brazeal, vice president of administration. “We are continuing to hire new team members and I look forward to completing our MTM family so we can build high-quality vehicles for our customers, just like we built this plant from the ground up.”

Mazda Toyota will hire more than 2,000 additional employees to join its workforce, eventually reaching up to 4,000 once production is in full operation next year. The plant has the capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles a year, evenly split between the two nameplates.

“North Alabama welcomed us with open arms and I hope the community is just as excited as we are about our first vehicle, the Corolla Cross,” said Janette Hostettler, vice president of production. “This will truly be a product of Alabama, assembled right here and sold all over the country.”

Mazda Toyota said its investment increased to more than $2.3 billion when the parent companies announced an additional $830 million commitment last summer. The additional investment allowed Mazda Toyota to incorporate more cutting-edge technologies into its manufacturing processes.