Toyota is moving its pickup truck production from Mexico to Texas because of Trump

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. has decided to move production of its popular mid-size Tacoma pickup truck from one of its plants in Mexico to San Antonio, Texas. This move is part of a large-scale, $3.6 billion investment program to modernize the U.S. facility.

A second assembly line will be built at the Texas plant, which currently manufactures full-size pickup trucks and SUVs. Thanks to this expansion, the plant’s floor space will double (to 465,000 square meters), enabling the production of an additional 150,000 vehicles annually and creating approximately 2,000 new jobs by 2030.

The decision to relocate production capacity was made amid the suspension of negotiations between the U.S. and Mexico regarding the renewal of the North American Free Trade Agreement. President Donald Trump did not extend the trade pact beyond July 1, which means that cars imported from Mexico may be subject to tariffs of up to 25%. Trump has already praised Toyota’s move on social media, calling it proof of the effectiveness of his tariff policy.

Until now, the Tacoma model has been assembled at two Mexican plants. The plant near Tijuana, which produced more than 166,000 of these vehicles last year, will completely cease production, shifting its focus to other markets outside the U.S. Meanwhile, the second plant in central Mexico will continue to assemble and export vehicles to the U.S. for the time being. The Tacoma is the leader in its segment on the U.S. market—a record 274,638 units were sold in the U.S. last year.

Source: Bloomberg.

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