Toyota Picks Texas For New Full-Size Truck Plant.

Toyota said it will invest $800 million in a full-size truck plant at a 2000-acre site in San Antonio to build its sixth North American vehicle assembly plant. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc. will build approximately 150,000 Tundra full size trucks annually, beginning in 2006. Production at the San Antonio plant will supplement the Tundra production at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc. (TMMI), which is currently the exclusive manufacturer of this model.

The new plant is expected to bring approximately 2,000 new jobs to Texas and indirectly create work for many more. Operations at the plant will include stamping, body weld, plastics, paint, and assembly.

The plant is the latest addition to Toyota's increasing manufacturing investment in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. By 2006, the automaker will have capacity to build 1.65 million cars and trucks a year, and 1.16 million engines.

Beginning in 2005, Toyota will begin assembly of Tacoma pick-up trucks at its new plant in Baja California, Mexico. Additionally, this plant will build Tacoma truck beds to be shipped to California for vehicle production at NUMMI.

Additionally, Toyota has three engine plants in North America. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia, Inc. and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. both produce four-cylinder and V6 engines. Also, its plant in Ontario, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc., assembles four-cylinder engines.

Later this year, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc. will begin manufacturing V8 engines for the Tundra built at TMMI. With this announcement, the company's direct investment tops $14 billion with annual parts and materials purchases from North American suppliers totaling over $11 billion, Toyota said.