Toyota seems unstoppable: The auto giant is investing more than $500 million to boost capacity at its Texas plant, where it makes the Tundra, Tacoma and Sequoia.
Toyota is expanding its footprint in Texas, with a production center already covering 500,000 square feet. With a planned investment of $531 million in the facility, Toyota will increase its production capacity in San Antonio, where it will also manufacture drivetrain parts.
The move will create 400 new jobs, which Toyota sees as long-term, high-quality jobs. The company’s Texas plant, which has been in operation for the past 20 years, has been building trucks and SUVs. Last year, more than 181,000 vehicles were produced there, including some of the toughest vehicles on the road today.
The San Antonio plant exclusively produces the full-size Tundra pickup truck, compact Tacoma and all-hybrid Sequoia SV, which are assembled on the same production line.
Toyota says the San Antonio plant is its first to consolidate production facilities from multiple suppliers on the same site, or even under the same roof.
The latest investment brings total investment in what is considered a global powerhouse to more than $4.7 billion. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says Toyota found a unique business-friendly environment in the state, low taxes and a young, growing, skilled workforce.
This investment will bring advanced manufacturing technology and flexibility not only to Bexar County, South Texas, but to Toyota’s entire North American operations. As a staunch investor in the local community, the automaker is enhancing the region’s reputation as a hub for advanced manufacturing.
The 400 new jobs created by the expansion are in addition to the 3,700 current direct employees and 5,600 employed by Toyota Texas’ local suppliers.
News of the investment in the Texas production center comes after Toyota announced a major investment in its Alabama plant.
Toyota chose San Antonio, Texas, 22 years ago.
Toyota chose San Antonio, Texas, as the site for the factory in 2022. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee were also considered for the new assembly plant, which will produce the second-generation Tundra pickup truck, but San Antonio was ultimately selected.
Toyota began construction of the new plant, which is planned to have an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, on October 17, 2003. Initially, the Tundra rolled off an assembly line in San Antonio, but also from an assembly line near Princeton, Indiana, where the original model was built.
In October 2008, amid the financial crisis, Toyota announced it would shutter its Princeton plant and move all Tundra production to San Antonio, where it plans to begin building the Tacoma in 2022, with the car also being produced at its Apaseo el Grande plant in Mexico, which opened in December 2019.
