Toyota poised to build plant number eight in US
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Toyota is in the process of scouting locations and performing feasibility studies on opening another plant in the U.S.The addition of another manufacturing center within the States would make the total number of ToMoCo plants rise to eight, further shoring up production capacity in one of its most prosperous markets.
According to sources cited by the WSJ, Toyota has five locations in mind, all of which are in the southern U.S., and currently include Chattanooga, TN and Marion, AR. Back in mid-December, the SouthernAutoCorridor.com reported that sites in North Carolina and Southwest Virginia were being reconed as well.
There may be an announcement about Toyota's intentions later this month and according to the WSJ's sources, the plant will likely produce Highlander SUVs to the tune of about 200k per year, when the plant opens in 2009.
[Source: Drive.com.au, Wall Street Journal, SouthernAutoCorridor.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Avinash Machado 8:40AM (1/05/2007)
Toyota seems to be becoming more American than GM and Ford. Also providing lots of jobs to Americans and improving their lifestyles.
Reply
Bill 9:11AM (1/05/2007)
A reliable car definately improve's one's lifestyle.
Reply
Dave-in-PA 9:22AM (1/05/2007)
The only idiots on this blog are those who call people names without explanation. What’s so idiotic about what #1 said? Toyota is increasing market share, building reliable cars that satisfactorily meet the needs of their customers, building factories to accommodate their growth, bringing opportunity to American communities in need of jobs and doing what American auto manufacturers used to do, make a profit. Toyota is the envy of the world; something they used to say about GM. And if you don’t think the jobs this factory will provide are not significant to those who will work there, then wait to see how many apply when the doors open. I bet they get 3 or 4 times the number of applications then they have openings for.
Reply
Avinash Machado 9:24AM (1/05/2007)
#2 Chivo
While GM and Ford are closing plants in the US causing many auto workers to become unemployed, Toyota is opening new plants providing lots of jobs for American workers. So it is you who is clearly an idiot, and not me.
Reply
porker 9:39AM (1/05/2007)
I just hope that our idiotic Democrat governor doesn't give away the farm to entice the japanese to build the plant in Chattanooga. These plants do very little to improve the local economy, since they pay no taxes and are exempt from every regulation that their American counterparts have to abide by. The few "locals" they hire are the lowest paid, most expendable of the workers. In the meantime, they produce more congestion, cause roads and traffic patterns to have to be relocated, and strain already strained infrastructure, all the while thumbing their noses at the local taxes because of their exemptions. If they would be forced to enter into plant building on a level playing field, then they would not even consider building in the US.
Reply
che culattone 9:44AM (1/05/2007)
#4... Toyota (along with Honda's help) is killing the whole world's car industry. they make bland cars, with no effort at all put into design, style, sould, or engineering. all they say is "we're reliable, we're reliable" which, by the way, is patently a lie, because they have been shown in recent years to be MUCH more unreliable and problem prone than your typical domestic. they just have this aura among stupid yuppies that they are nice cars, even though, really, they are among the worst pieces of crap this world has to offer.
toyota makes cars that are completely void of any heart. like i've said many times, my whirpool dishwasher has more soul than anything toyota puts out, in any of its market segments. and then, they try to invent for themselves some racing cred by signing up for Formula 1 (where they invest more than anybody, but still have never won a single race) and Nascar, where you see their camry-like car as a clown on the track... Toyota is the devil incarnate in the automobile world, and the sooner it dies, the happier every car enthusiast the world over will be.
The only good thing Toyota has ever done is to make the Land Cruiser, 4Runner and Hilux becuase, to put respect where it's due, they are the trucks, along with the Nissan Patrol, that allow the 3rd world to function without any roads.
Reply
David in Ohio 9:57AM (1/05/2007)
Wow, eight plants in the U.S.A. I guess it's true then, Toyota really is more American than GM. Proof positive #1 and #4 must be right. I mean really, eight plants in the United States is proof enough for them so why not everyone else?
Oh, wait, GM has 10 plants in Ohio alone. Oops, those silly facts are getting in the way again.
As far as building reliable cars: GM does that too it's just that the same people who think Toyota is more American than GM can't open their eyes wide enough to see it because it might mess up their comfortable little orderly existance. Heaven forbid we actually rethink our views once in a while.
I choose vehicles made by GM and Ford for a variety of reasons. I like them because of their style, comfort, affordability and reliability. I've never had a horrible problem with mine over the past twenty odd years so I don't have any reason to switch to a more expensive foreign make.
However, if you want to buy a car manufactured by Toyota or BMW or Nissan, GM, Ford or whatever, be my guest. Last time I checked this is America and you can do what you want with your money. But, those actions have equal reactions both good and bad for our country and our people which aren't easily measured. We really don't know what the fallout will be with this global economy but let's not spew bologna about how American Toyota is and how anti-American GM is with half truths and biased perceptions.
Reply
Michael G 10:23AM (1/05/2007)
I'm so tired of the "bland car" argument. If they were soooo BLAND people would not be buying Toyota, Honda, and ete... in droves. I bought a 2005 Mustang for the looks and it was a piece of junk lemon. I took my chance with an "American" auto maker and got burned, soon traded it in on a quality Toyota product and have never looked back since.
Reply
Raj 10:05AM (1/05/2007)
There are VERY FEW car enthusiast in the world, but lot many commuters and consumers and drivers, etc. I used to agree with this boring style of jap vehicles, but not anymore. New civic, new camry, new cx-7 (well almost entire Mazda lineup is cool) and new santa fe (I know it's Korean) changes everything. Now the challenge is double for BIG 2.5, they not only have to get the quality right but style too.
Reply
Be Oh Be 10:12AM (1/05/2007)
Let's see - In the United States Toyota has 7 plants and GM has 54. I say to Toyota, you have some building to do. And that's just to catch up to GM. You still have to consider all the factories that Ford and Chrysler have too.
Of course, you can spin this any way you want to. Sure, it's good that Toyota is building here, but I have a feeling that when the upper management goes to bed at night in Japan, the last thing they're worried about is whether or not some poor guy in North Carolina, USA has a job or not.
Reply
Raj 10:24AM (1/05/2007)
There is not single company in the world, including all USA companies, where the upper management goes to bed at night,worried about some poor guy in North Carolina, USA has a job or not.
Reply
Bill 10:18AM (1/05/2007)
#7
I totally agree with you, but some people want a Whirlpool dishwasher. Toyota wins because they provide the majority of consumers with what they desire, a practical, affordable, headache-free means of transportation. All cars are essentially appliances, in that they have the same basic function, get from Pt A to Pt B. I hate Toyota cars because they are boring, but from a business standpoint they're excellent at what they do. This is a car enthusiast blog, so peoples feet usually are not planted on the ground here. People here don't think of what the vast majority of people want. Toyota understands this.
Reply
Dave-in-PA 10:28AM (1/05/2007)
David in Ohio, and the rest of you who think you're so brilliant, the measurement on being more “American” wasn’t how many plants there are, it’s in how they run their business….namely growing and profitable and making cars with an enviable reputation….LIKE THE AMERICAN COMPANIES USED TO DO. That was the point.
And che culattone, how you conclude that Toyota is killing the car industry because their designs are without “soul”, as you put it, is just nonsensical. If you really want to measure reliability and quality then consider that Toyota and Honda spend less than half on warranty repairs then do Ford and GM. And frankly, there’s more “soul” in the new Camry or a Nissan Maxima than the Ford 500 or the Chevy Impala. I’d love to know what Ford or GM models you think advance auto design so far beyond anyone else?? Ford and GM’s minivans had so much “soul” they’re giving up on them, meanwhile, Sienna’s and Odysseys are selling quite well, and at a profit.
Reply
che culattone 10:36AM (1/05/2007)
#13 your comment demonstrates exactly what i'm saying. first of all, if you got a lemon, that's bad luck, and that can happen to anyone with any brand, so that's just about the dumbest reason i've ever heard to leave the domestics. what exactly did you buy after your stang? because i know toyota couldn't make anyhting as beautiful or stylish as the stang if the existence of their company depended on it. all they're good for is toyota corollas and tercels. EW
second, toyota's products are not better quality than anything the domestics have to offer. if you read this Detroit News survey, you'll notice that, whereas the typical asian car requires $209 in maintenance over the first three years, the typical domestic only requires $163. Why? because the asians charge a lot more for routine maintenance. they sucker people who don't know any better into buying their cars, thinking that they're more reliable, but then you end up paying more for maintenance. so that's the secret! whoops...
Of course, i understand people's annoyance with the domestics...the interiors are piss-poor. that's why i stick to german cars (audi only for me, thank you). but at least, when i buy foreign cars, i buy them to get performance and heart, not mass produced soul-less hunks of steel.
Reply
che culattone 10:46AM (1/05/2007)
sorry, here's the link to the detroit news study i was preveiously referring to:
http://detnews.com/graphics/2007/0102jdpower.pdf
and Dave-in PA, i suggest you read that survery, you'll notice that slide 13 completely disproves what you just said about honda and toyota owners spending less on warranty repairs. in fact, as an asian car owner, you'll spend more than any other brand on just that.
and what cars have more soul than a camry (note, i did not say anyhitng about nissan, which i believe to be the exception to the toyota/honda rule, mainly because of renault's investment in its design)? hahaha that must be a joke, right? that camry is disgusting...every time i see it i want to puke. what american cars have more soul? how bout the 300, the dodge charger, all of GM's SUV's (which is GM's strengths anyways), all the Volvo's ford makes. are you kidding me? the camry? you must be joking... at least, i sincerely hope you are. because if you aren't it'll make it pretty obivous to this forum that you're just a plain old toyota apologist.
Reply
Tony 10:47AM (1/05/2007)
Everyone rise and bow down to the car enthusiast, I wish I had more money than brains so that I could call my self a car enthusiast.#7 you live your life let me live mine.
Reply
che culattone 10:58AM (1/05/2007)
Tell me Tony, why are you in this forum, if you aren't a car enthusiast?
Reply
Scott 11:36AM (1/05/2007)
ha SORRY DUDE but Toyota and Honda has BLAND cars only reason they sell is because people who buy them don't care about cars they get in them drive and think that their Toyota or Honda means they always just get to turn the key and go. Well that isn't always true but damn PR does a lot and the media does not help. They have no care about cars in general. There so dumb they can't understand how a 505 hp Corvette gets 26 mpg. They hear Corvette and they think gas hog...26 mpg isn't awesome for a car but 505 hp = 26 mpg is!!! Also Toyota pays there people damn near just above minumum wage.....
Reply
che culattone 11:18AM (1/05/2007)
See the Post about the Peugeot 207 RC to see what soul and heart really are in a car.
Reply
Dave-in-PA 11:20AM (1/05/2007)
First of all, che, anytime one of you GM apologists mentions Chrysler it’s always to say they AREN’T American, so the 300 doesn’t count and it’s why I didn’t mention it. Secondly, style is a matter of subjective opinion and because YOU don’t like the Camry doesn’t mean it has no style. To many it does. I’m not a big fan, but it’s certainly more stylish than the 500 and you can’t compare it to a TRUCK, as you try to do by mentioning SUVs.
To your point on slide 13, it is talking about maintenance costs by the consumer NOT warranty costs paid by the manufacturer which is what I was referring to. But anyway, the small amount extra you pay for maintenance of the Japanese car is often returned to you in value at trade-in or resale and in the likelihood of fewer repairs.
Reply