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Toyota launches production of Tacoma at San Antonio plant

Sam Abuelsamid — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:28:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

2010 Toyota Tacoma - Click above for high-res image gallery

Production of the Toyota Tacoma resumed in July after tooling was moved from its former home at NUMMI in Fremont, California to San Antonio, Texas. The Texas factory is also home to the full-size Tundra which has not lived up to sales expectations, leaving lots of extra capacity.

Adding Tacoma production in Texas cost Toyota $100 million and brought 1,000 new jobs to the facility. Toyota spent about $1.3 billion on the San Antonio plant and tooled it up for 300,000 units a year. However, the Tundra has never even hit half that mark. With all of Toyota's North American pickup production now consolidated at San Antonio, the plant could finally come close to its capacity.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Toyota Tacoma 4x2 PreRunner

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading Toyota launches production of Tacoma at San Antonio plant

Toyota launches production of Tacoma at San Antonio plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Toyota idling two U.S. factories in wake of sales shortfall

Chris Shunk — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:29:00 EST

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Recalls, Toyota

The recall of over eight million vehicles has Toyota in the crosshairs of the world media, and all that negative attention is predictably hurting the Japanese automaker's U.S. sales. A report from Breitbart claims that Toyota is stopping production at its Georgetown, Kentucky Camry and Avalon plant for four days to keep output in line with demand. Likewise, the San Antonio, Texas Tundra plant will be shuttered for 10 days in March and April to ensure that dealers don't have more trucks on the lot than needed.

If the report is true, the temporary shutdown of the plants in Kentucky and Texas would appear to signal that Toyota doesn't plan to build up stockpiles of vehicles in the short term. We're thinking that's probably a good idea in light of the fact that Toyota will likely continue to see bad press until well after the Japanese automaker heads to Washington D.C. for congressional hearings about its recall issues. Toyota is working hard to get the many recalled vehicles fixed, however, as the automaker claims its dealers are on a torrid pace repairing 50,000 pedals per day.

[Source: Breitbart]

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Report: Toyota idling two U.S. factories in wake of sales shortfall originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: Toyota adding 850 jobs in San Antonio truck factory

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:28:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

Toyota's arrangements for its San Antonio plant are coming together after the closure of NUMMI and the announced relocation of Tacoma pickup production. The company will be adding 850 permanent and temporary workers to its labor force in Texas, taking the number of associates from 1,850 to about 2,700 - and that doesn't include increases in the supplier workforce. For those with an eye on the employment scene, Toyota posted the job openings in August and 14,000 people applied.

The assumption of Tacoma duties will put the San Antonio plant on a schedule of two shifts per day for the first time since last year's plant idling. When the $100 million retooling is finished, the plant will be able to produce 200,000 Tacomas every year. Toyota engineers are preparing the assembly line now and Tacoma production is scheduled to being next spring, with 100,000 units projected annually.

[Source: My San Antonio]

REPORT: Toyota adding 850 jobs in San Antonio truck factory originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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REPORT: Toyota moving Tacoma production to San Antonio

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:29:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota, UAW/Unions

Now that Toyota has decided the fate of the NUMMI plant, the company has to decide where to move production of the Tacoma and Corolla models built there. The Corolla hasn't been spoken for yet, but Toyota is confirming that its Tacoma line is moving to the San Antonio factory that currently makes the Tundra pickup.

Toyota will spend $100 million on tooling for the Tacoma, and city and county officials guess that annual units will number about 100,000. It is also estimated that 1,100 new hires will be added to the factory employment rolls, which includes the 21 suppliers on the campus. Building the new truck will give the plant the second shift it's been missing since last summer, when it went down to a single shift as auto sales declined.

For the NUMMI workers, Toyota's announcement only makes the finality all the more real. Discussions with NUMMI laborers remains ongoing, and it has been mentioned that Toyota could move some California workers to Texas. However, with San Antonio offering tax breaks based on hiring some local workers, the chances of that are probably slim. Thanks for the tip, Tony.

[Source: My San Antonio]

REPORT: Toyota moving Tacoma production to San Antonio originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota to Tundra factory workers: Get thee to a park!

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:31:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

As reported recently, even though Toyota halted Tundra production for a while, the company pledged not to lay off its workers. At a total cost of potentially $1 billion to the company, Toyota instead placed the employees in retraining and civic works programs during a Kaizen and Development Period.

What kinds of civic programs? One of them, in San Antonio, is called the City-Toyota Green Clean-Up Project, which has put up to 340 workers on the streets to "clean, paint, and plant." Factory staffers have painted curbs, picnic tables and trash cans, trimmed trees and plants, and cleaned up lots. While employees do want to get back to the factories, they're enjoying the time away and being able to give back to the city -- all the while earning their regular wages and benefits.

A second round of city improvement will begin next month. After that, Toyota expects to have all hands on deck again at the factory in November, building 2009-model-year Tundras. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

[Source: My SA News]

Toyota to Tundra factory workers: Get thee to a park! originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota lays off 200 temp workers at Tundra plant

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:32:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Toyota Tundra

The full-size pickup truck woes continue to worsen, leaving even mighty Toyota little choice but to slow production of its Tundra model. In fact, Toyota's brand new plant in San Antonio that was built just for the Tundra will be shutting down a total of 14 days between now and October. Full-time workers at the plant will be able to use vacation days, take the time off unpaid or find something else at the plant to do while the assembly line is halted.

Unfortunately, temp-to-hire workers aren't so lucky. Two-hundred employees who were hoping to land full-time positions at the plant will be laid off this summer. Toyota spokesman Mike Goss says, "We have a very long-term view of that factory in Texas. We're trying not to overreact. We're trying not to shut it down." Whoa... back up. Shut it down? We hadn't heard any such thing until it was spoken by Goss. Sounds like things are just as bad for Toyotas with beds as they are for pickups from Detroit. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

Gallery: 2007 Toyota Tundra Limited

[Source: AP via My San Antonio]

Toyota lays off 200 temp workers at Tundra plant originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota may move all Tundra production to Texas

Michael Harley — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:31:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2007 Toyota Tundra Limited

As of today, production of the Tundra full-size pickup is split between Toyota's facility in Princeton, Indiana, and the automaker's brand new San Antonio plant in Texas. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Toyota is considering moving all production of the Tundra to just the Texas plant. Just over two weeks ago, Toyota announced it was slowing production on the Tundra (and Sequoia) due to lagging sales. The move to consolidate all Tundra manufacturing in one location may be seen as a sign Toyota only expects to sell 200,000 full-size units or less this year, as that number represents the production capacity of the Texas facility. You may remember that Toyota boldly claimed it would sell 200,000 units of the Tundra in 2007, the newly redesigned truck's first year of sales. It missed that target, but not by much with 196,555 units sold. Toyota hasn't officially commented on the rumor yet, but we'll let you know when it breaks the silence.

UPDATE: Toyota has issued a statement saying it is not moving all Tundra production to San Antonio.

Gallery: 2007 Toyota Tundra Limited

[Source: PickupTruck.com]

Toyota may move all Tundra production to Texas originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota Tundra production begins

Randall Halcomb — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:34:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

Last Friday the first two Tundra pickups rolled off the line at Toyota's new production facility in San Antonio, Texas. The facility, called Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, took three years to build and cost $1.28 billion. At full capacity it can pump out 200,000 Tundras a year, a rate at which Toyota hopes the plant will be operating sometime next year. The facility also houses 21 suppliers who produce components for the Tundra on-site. Toyota's president Katsuaki Watanabe and Texas Governor Rick Perry were on hand to witness the ceremony that marks Toyota's entry into the North American auto industry's biggest market.

With a capacity of only 200,000 units per year, it's not likely the Tundra will put a huge dent in the sales of its main competitors, the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra, both of which sell more than three to four times that many units in a year. Still, the arrival of a competitive full-size truck from Toyota, the current can't-miss automaker, is a big deal, and it's no coincidence this manufacturing facility was built right in the heart of Texas truck country.

Check out more pics of the facility's inner workings after the jump.

[Source: Toyota]

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Toyota Tundra production begins originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tundra launched in Texas

Damon Lavrinc — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:27:00 EST

Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

Texas State Fair goers were granted an exclusive look at two new Toyota Tundra pickups on Tuesday, where the automaker sought to show its wares in a venue perfectly suited to make the most of the Tundra's work-inspired physique and powerplant.

The new pickups will be assembled down the road at ToMoCo's brand new billion-dollar assembly plant in San Antonio, which has grown beyond Toyota's expectations. Initially, the facility was only to cost around $600m and create jobs for approximately 2,000 workers. Those figures have now grown substantially, costing Toyota over a billion green backs and employing 4,100 Texans.

It's a huge undertaking and is expected to establish Toyota as a major player in the full size truck market, as long as demand for full-sized pickups doesn't tank as some analysts expect.

The full press release is available after the jump.

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Tundra launched in Texas originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota ratchets down Tundra expectations; increases Camry production

Eric Bryant — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:06:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

While Toyota expects to see overall growth in the US market next year, the company is cutting production estimates for its new San Antonio full-size truck plant. Originally expected to start at its full capacity of 200,000 units per year, the automaker now expects to build 150,000 Tundra pickups there in 2007. To blame is a shrinking full-size truck market, led by high fuel prices and a decrease in housing starts (we've seen data that strongly correlates the housing market to pickup truck sales). Stealing sales away from the established leaders won't be easy, either, especially not with GM's new Silverado and Sierra hitting showrooms ahead of the redesigned Tundra.

Toyota has doubled its order for Camrys from Subaru's Indiana plant, however, and now expects 200,000 units/year to come online in October of 2007. Combined with the output of Toyota's Kentucky plant, this gives it a North American production capacity somewhere north of 500,000 units/year. The automaker has already stated that it expects to sell 450,000 Camrys here next year; just how many are they thinking of pushing in '08 and beyond?

[Source: Marketwatch]

Toyota ratchets down Tundra expectations; increases Camry production originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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