Toyota is investing $3.6 billion in a new plant in Texas

The Japanese car manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp has announced plans to invest $3.6 billion in the construction of a new car assembly plant in the state of Texas. This move will enable the company to relocate part of its pick-up truck production from Mexico back to the US, according to Reuters.

The new facility, covering an area of 232,000 square metres, will be located on the site of Toyota’s existing manufacturing complex in San Antonio. The plant is scheduled to come on stream in 2030, creating 2,000 new jobs. Once construction is complete, the company will move production of the mid-size Tacoma pick-up from its Mexican plant in Baja California to Texas. Meanwhile, production of Tacoma models at the company’s other Mexican plant in Guanajuato will continue.

It is worth noting that at its current site in San Antonio, Toyota already manufactures SUVs and Tundra pick-ups, and a new 500,000-square-foot rear axle production plant is expected to open there this autumn. This investment is part of the company’s long-term strategy: in 2020, Toyota had already moved Tacoma production from San Antonio to Guanajuato and Baja (where the model had been manufactured since 2004), but the focus has now shifted back towards the US.

Experts attribute this decision to intense pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration, which has been actively urging car manufacturers to bring production back to the US, backed up by increased tariffs on cars, steel, aluminium and automotive components. A White House spokesperson has already stated that Toyota’s investment is “one of many results of the Trump administration’s policy aimed at introducing tariffs, deregulation and tax cuts”.

Despite the fact that protectionist tariffs have cost Toyota billions in losses due to rising costs, the company’s management is demonstrating loyalty to the current political course. In particular, last year Toyota’s CEO, Akio Toyoda, appeared in public wearing Trump-Vance campaign merchandise, a move that drew praise from the White House and criticism from environmental organisations. The corporation has also successfully lobbied Congress and the White House to repeal California’s strict environmental standards on emissions and mandatory quotas for electric vehicles.