Mexico President Vicente Fox Visits Toyota's Baja California Plant to See Truck Bed Production

TIJUANA, Mexico, Sept. 20 -- Mexico President Vicente Fox today visited Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Baja California (TMMBC) to tour the plant and see the production of truck beds for the Toyota Tacoma, which recently began operations.

The total annual capacity of TMMBC will be 180,000 truck beds and 30,000 Tacoma pickup trucks. Production of Tacoma vehicles will begin in December 2004. The truck beds will be used in production both at TMMBC and New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) - a joint venture of Toyota and General Motors in Fremont, California.

"This is an extremely proud day for our asociados," said Seiji 'Ike' Ikezaki, TMMBC president. "They are honored to have President Fox see the hard work that has gone into truck bed production.

"We know we have many challenges ahead as we get ready to produce Tacoma pickups later this year, but we are up to the task," added Ikezaki.

There are currently 586 asociados at TMMBC, and total investment in the plant is approximately $140 million. When Tacoma production begins later this year, employment at the plant will be approximately 700.

TMMBC also has an on-site supplier facility that employs 140 people and an additional investment of $6.6 million. The facility will be run by CAMEX, which is a Mexican subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho America, a logistical and service provider to Toyota.

By 2006, Toyota will have the capacity to build 1.66 million cars and trucks and 1.29 million engines annually in North America. Toyota currently employs more than 36,000 people throughout North America. The company's direct investment is over $15.3 billion. Annual parts, materials, goods and services purchased from North American suppliers total another $25 billion. Toyota's North American-produced vehicles include the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Sienna, Solara, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra, and the Lexus RX 330.