• TACOMA: Japanese auto giant Toyota formally opened its USD 700 million automotive manufacturing plant in the central state of Guanajuato, intending to ramp up production of its Tacoma pickup truck in its two Mexican locations, vowing to reach 266,000 units in 2021.
• MEXICAN: The new Guanajuato factory was originally planned to make the popular Corolla, but the company shifted plans in 2017. Since 2002, Toyota opened a plant near Tijuana (in the California-Mexico border), which is already producing 166,000 units of its popular mid-size Tacoma.
• QUALITY: “The Tacoma becomes now the ‘Mexican pickup’ the truck needed to cross borders, and one that meets all needs with the highest levels of production quality”, said Juan Francisco García López, head of Toyota in Guanajuato. García added the plant is the most advanced in the world.
• FOOTPRINT: In addition to its two Mexican plants and another one in Canada, Toyota has a large footprint in the US, with four vehicle assembly factories (Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi, Texas), and three additional engine producing locations (Kentucky, West Virginia and Alabama).
