Toyota shifts Tacoma pickup production from Texas to Mexico; continues $13 billion US investment

While technically they may share the same platform, there will be many more similarities between the Sequoia and Tundra, vs the Tundra and Tacoma. I'm assuming chassis width and length, as well as drivetrain will be some key differences between the Tacoma and the others. These would likely cause supply chain and production inefficiencies if production of the Tacoma and Tundra continued at the same plant.

Also, retooling has to occur for all three, regardless. Might as well streamline production and supply chain in the process. Toyota is very good at this.

 

Buy American...

 

Yes, It is hard to argue with this. I’m sure what bothers a lot of people and me is why Toyota chose to build another Mexico facility and then take Tacoma of all vehicles to this new facility.

 

So this is the article out of the local paper in San Antonio.
My take on this
1. - Toyota is moving one of their highest production vehicles to Mexico, where the wages will be half of that in the USA. No cost savings to customer, more profit for Toyota. Less jobs and wages for the USA
2. San Antonio will now be producing the worst selling full size truck and the worst selling large SUV, this is across all manufactures.
3. San Antonio will be producing 100,000 less vehicles per year. Tell me there will not be cuts in personnel or hours?
4. The $400 Million in upgrades, will be the same upgrades we all see at the grocery stores...more self automation, less jobs.
5. Toyota and our ultra liberal mayor are trying their hardest to make all the above seem positive, so Trump doesn't come down and try and keep that production in the USA (Love him or hate him, he has done more for the American worker and factory than other presidents. No political commentary please)

I am proud to own a reliable truck made right in my hometown. I am grateful for all the good jobs they have provided my hometown. I just hope I and others can continue to say this in the future. (I dont work at the Toyota plant or know anyone there, I am just a a proud Tacoma owner, Texan, and American)

Toyota to shuffle San Antonio production — Sequoia in, Tacoma out; no new jobs expected
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In a major change at one of the city’s most important manufacturers, Toyota says it will stop making its best-selling Tacoma pickup in San Antonio next year and instead will produce one of its lowest-selling vehicles here — the Sequoia SUV.
In announcing the change Friday, the company said it would not eliminate any jobs at the South Side factory, although the switch could significantly reduce the number of vehicles produced here — at least temporarily.

The plant has been an economic spark for the region since it rumbled to life in 2006. It employs about 3,200 workers, who currently make Tacomas and Tundra pickups. They’re paid an average of $24 an hour.

Toyota said it will move all production of the Tacoma to Mexico and will shift production of the Sequoia to San Antonio from Princeton, Ind.

The South Side plant will suspend Tacoma production in late 2021 and start manufacturing Sequoias in 2022. The changeover will not happen immediately; it will take several months or more to prepare the assembly line to make Sequoias.



Photo: Mike Fisher

Toyota sold 10,289 Sequoias in 2019. That ranked next-to-last among the nine large SUVs tracked by Edmunds.com. The leader in the category was the Chevy Tahoe, with sales of 101,000.

In contrast, the Tacoma is the best-selling truck in the midsize class, with sales of 248,000 in 2019. More than 100,000 were made in San Antonio.

In a statement, Toyota officials said the plant has been operating “at maximum capacity” since 2016 and that the production shift “will make room for market growth and achieve long-term sustainability of future production in San Antonio.”

Toyota spokeswoman Luisa Casso said: “We pride ourselves on providing stable, good-paying jobs. Employment will remain the same.”

Auto industry analysts said Toyota may have plans to produce new SUV models in San Antonio, beyond the Sequoia, in response to strong consumer demand for the large vehicles.

Analysts also noted that despite its comparatively low sales, the Sequoia — with an average sticker price of nearly $60,000 — generates profits for Toyota.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the Sequoia’s low sales numbers did not concern him. He said Toyota’s decision last year to spend $391 million on upgrades to the plant showed a commitment to the city.

“They are doubling down on San Antonio,” Nirenberg said.



Photo: Mike Fisher

Toyota will continue to manufacture the full-size Tundra pickup here.

On ExpressNews.com: Toyota Tacoma sales set record in 2019, but Tundra stumbled

Toyota announced the $391 million in plant upgrades in September and said they would include introduction of advanced manufacturing processes.

The upgrade will allow the plant to accommodate the Sequoia, the first nonpickup to be produced in San Antonio.

Toyota received tax incentives of around $19 million from San Antonio and Bexar County in connection with the improvements.

City and county officials said they granted the tax breaks because they believe Toyota eventually will add jobs here.

Toyota officials have said no new jobs are in store immediately, but some of the more than 20 suppliers located on the Toyota property will increase employment to accommodate production of the Sequoia.

Including suppliers, the automaker accounts for 7,200 jobs in San Antonio.

On ExpressNews.com: Toyota’s $391 million expansion the first major renovation of San Antonio plant in nine years

Toyota is able to move production of the Tacoma to Mexico because it spent $700 million to open its second plant in that country last month, in the city of Guanajuato. The company has assembled the Tacoma in a plant near Tijuana since 2004; production will continue at that facility.

The San Antonio factory opened in late 2006, at first producing only Tundras. The Tacoma was added in 2010.

Toyota officials did not explain why they preferred to move Tacoma production to Mexico rather than expand their San Antonio operations. A likely factor: Mexican auto workers are paid as little as half what their U.S. counterparts earn.

At the San Antonio facility, officials said the Tundra and Sequoia will be built on the same production line, just as the Tacoma and Tundra have been.

The Tundra has struggled for market share against competitors made by Ford and Chevy. The Tundra posted sales of 111,645 last year. Toyota is expected to redesign the pickup in the next year or so in hopes of boosting sales

Toyota says its production capacity at the San Antonio plant is 208,000 vehicles. If Tundra and Sequoia sales stay flat, that would leave the plant short of capacity by more than 80,000 vehicles.

But the plant has been running over-capacity, said Kevin Voelkel, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas. He said it produced about 230,000 vehicles in 2019.

Voelkel said workers were notified of the production changes during the evening shift Thursday. Voelkel said he told workers not to get hung up over which models will be produced at the plant.

“We are a manufacturing facility,” he said in an interview. “We will be building something.”

Voelkel said the San Antonio factory upgrades will give Toyota the flexibility to adapt to future production demands.

He did not go into detail, but Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds.com, said Toyota might be considering producing new SUV models in San Antonio.

She noted that SUVs account for 50 percent of auto sales in the U.S. and said manufacturers are exploring new models to take advantage of consumer demand.

“They are looking at different micro-niches in the SUV market,” Caldwell said.

Toyota could increase Sequoia sales by redesigning the vehicle, said Matt DeLorenzo, senior managing editor for Kelley Blue Book. He said the vehicle has not had a major redesign in 13 years.

“While full-size trucks like the Sequoia have longer product cycles than cars, 13 years is nearly double the industry average,” he said. “An all-new model would be a welcome addition to Toyota’s truck lineup, and it wouldn’t take much for it to clear the low sales bar set by the previous generation.”

 

@Stocklocker said the thing. It’s just the way they spin this news.

 

FTFY

 

Toyota is making these moves for one reason: To increase efficiencies and cut costs. A shared truck platform is a wise business decision.

 

It remains to be seen.

Toyota first retires Jim Lentz, then moves production to Mexico.

Oh, and TM stock is fucking flat to boot.

Strategic brilliance or blunders?

 

I'm right there with you both. Toyota, for all intents and purposes, created lean manufacturing and all but mastered error proofing at that scale. If they are doing it, you'd best believe there is a reason. I'm not on their payroll, so I have no incentive (nor care) to ask why.

 

Except Toyota wants to take work away from the same people that buy their trucks.

 

Do you know what the 2022 Sequoia or Tundra will look like, what features it will have or how many it will sell? You cannot base your opinion (overtly political which is a nono here) on shit you know nothing about.

 

TW has it all: motor oil advice, marriage advice, financial advice, multinational auto manufacturing corporation advice...

 

I never understood why people care where its made, its not a Ferrari or amg, the thing isn't built by an actual person. Shit the robot that makes them in the plant in Mexico is probably made in America. lol.

 

Dude seriously. You have no idea what Toyota is planning for the Sequoia or Tundra. They might do something that ups their sales tremendously. Give it a chance.

 

This is the pickup truck with the most American content in 2019: https://www.cars.com/american-made-index/

 

I hear the Gladiator already outsold it. Ouch.

 

Funny how the Wrangler and Gladiator don't even make top 15 in the list. Meanwhile, the most American-made Jeep model is built on an Alfa Romeo platform...

 

Car and Driver says the Ridgeline is 75% while the Wrangler (JK) is 74%, Cherokee at 72%.

 

I hope for Toyotas sake that the next Tundra and Sequoia are killer. At the moment neither product is doing very well in my neck of the woods.

So a major revamp is absolutely necessary if the Tundra is going to compete with Ford, GM, and Dodge. I rather doubt the Sequoia stands a chance, even after revamp.

 

Yeah they say they are ditching the Mercedes platform for the Grand Cherokee for the Alfa platform.
If the new Tundra is a hybrid getting 30 mpg they will sell a lot of them.