Borderlands Mexico: Toyota pumping $1.45B into Mexico to boost Tacoma production
Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Toyota pumping $1.45B into Mexico to boost Tacoma production; Union Pacific to serve Volkswagen hub at Texas seaport; South Korean freight transporter to open subsidiary in Mexico; and Nefab expands in Arizona with warehousing and logistics facility.
Japanese automaker Toyota plans to strengthen its manufacturing presence in Mexico with a $1.45 billion investment.
The funding will increase Toyota’s production capacity in the country by expanding factories in the cities of Apaseo el Grande and Tijuana.
The investments will go toward production of Toyota’s newest generation of Tacoma pickup trucks, as well as produce a new line of Tacoma hybrid electric vehicles.
“[Toyota] is one of the companies with which we are working most closely and it has a big future in our country,” said Mexico’s economy minister, Marcelo Ebrard, in a video posted on X Nov. 8 announcing Toyota’s investment. “The government of President Claudia Sheinbaum is committed to providing certainty and confidence to investors, and promoting, through investment, development with well-being in the country. We will continue working as she has asked us to attract more investment and generate quality jobs.”
Toyota’s factory in Apaseo el Grande will receive $1.1 billion in investment and add 450 jobs. The plant currently employs 1,700 workers and produces about 100,000 Tacoma pickup trucks annually, which are exported to the United States.
Apaseo el Grande is in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato and is a major automotive production hub.
In Tijuana, Toyota is investing $336 million to expand Tacoma production, generating 1,200 jobs. The plant employs 2,000 workers and produces about 130,000 Tacomas annually for the U.S. market.
Tijuana is across the border from San Diego.
“At Toyota, we believe in Mexico and in the relevance that investments have for the economic, environmental and social development of the country,” Luis Lozano, president of Toyota Mexico, said in a news release. “With this announcement, Toyota has achieved an investment of more than $3 billion in Mexico, a country that is essential for the regional competitiveness of North America.”
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