Toyota Hits Record North American Production In 2004

Toyota currently has five vehicle assembly plants in the North America. In addition, the company is building a pickup truck plant in San Antonio, Texas and a casting plant in Jackson, Tennessee and several of Toyota's North American engine and component plants are expanding.

"Strong demand for key products such as the Sienna, the Camry and the RX 330 kept our plants very busy this past year," said Atsushi Niimi, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc. "With our Mexico plant coming up to full capacity in the first half of the year, and the introduction of the new Tacoma and Avalon, we expect 2005 to be another important year for our North American manufacturing operations."

In addition to the plants mentioned above, Bodine Aluminum, Inc., in Troy and St. Louis, Mo., casts aluminum parts such as cylinder heads, intake manifolds and engine blocks. TABC, Inc. in Long Beach, Calif., manufactures catalytic converters, coated substrates and steering columns, and this year began assembling Hino Trucks. Canadian Autoparts Toyota, Inc. (CAPTIN) in Delta, British Columbia, produces aluminum wheels.

By 2006 Toyota will have the capacity to build 1.66 million vehicles and 1.44 million engines annually in North America. Most of the vehicle production increase is due to additional Tundra production at Toyota䴜s new plant in San Antonio, Texas. The automaker 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.