Toyota Considers Tennessee for New Plant

Washington DC June 19, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that Toyota is reportedly looking at two sites in Tennessee to build its eighth North American auto assembly plant.

The Volunteer State's Governor Phil Bredesen, told The Wall Street Journal his state is on a "relatively short list" of sites Toyota is considering. The Governor said Tennessee is proposing two sites to Toyota: one, he said, is located near Chattanooga in eastern Tennessee; and, the other, is near Alamo in western Tennessee, about 80 miles northeast of Memphis.

Last month, Toyota Executive Vice Chairman Fujio Cho said that if demand for Toyota vehicles "keeps up its current momentum," the company would likely have to build another assembly plant in North America, where it has five plants operating and another two which will come on-line within the next few years including, a brand new multi-million dollar Tundra pickup truck plant in San Antonio, T.X.