So far Toyota, besides being one of the brands most hostile to electric mobility as the sole solution for the future of the car, has also been the group that has made the greatest number of announcements aimed at satisfying the requests of the American president Donald Trump who, as is known, is threatening with high tariffs (still in force are the 25 percent tariffs on cars) all foreign companies in the hope that they will establish their supply chain on American soil.
TOYOTA’S AMERICAN PLANS
The latest announcement made in this regard by the world’s leading brand in sales volume (a primacy it could soon lose due to the Chinese surge, hence the strategic decision to increase its presence in the US, a market that excludes cars made in China) foresees a monstrous investment of about $2 billion.
A considerable amount that will be used, according to a document presented to local authorities by Toyota itself, for the construction of a new vehicle assembly line adjacent to its current production complex in San Antonio, Texas.
TIGHT ROADMAP AND REQUEST FOR SUBSIDIES
Local press writes: “based on the request to obtain the related state tax incentives submitted to the Texas State Comptroller’s office within the Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation program, the construction” of the new lines “should start this year and be completed by 2030. A sign that the Japanese intend to proceed as quickly as possible.
The company is also reportedly seeking tax incentives from Bexar County and $37 million in grants and loans from the state, county, and city.
THE MYSTERIOUS TOYOTA PROJECT ORCA EMERGES
All this would answer to the code name ‘Project Orca’. Specifically, according to what has leaked, Toyota’s plans include an investment of $1.05 billion in buildings and other real estate improvements and $950 million allocated to the purchase of machinery and equipment.
Great news for Trump who will not fail to use this case to demonstrate to his opponents that the tariff cudgel works. Not by chance, Toyota highlights the employment impacts on the territory (which most interests The Donald): according to the Japanese, Project Orca will create 2,000 new jobs in Texas between 2028 and 2030.
TOYOTA BRINGS PRODUCTION FROM MEXICO TO THE USA?
There is another interesting aspect, also reported by the Texas community press which obviously follows with interest the news on the hub expansion: the possibility that Toyota will produce vehicles in the new complex that it had previously destined for the more convenient factories in Central America, beyond the border with Mexico. A border that Trump has locked down with tariffs (the same strategy, as is known, also affected Canada which indeed suffers the same diaspora of foreign manufacturers).
We read, in fact: “Currently in San Antonio Toyota produces the large Tundra pickups and the Sequoia SUVs in San Antonio. This configuration was made possible by a $391 million investment made in 2019 to retool the plant in anticipation of the redesigned 2022 Tundra and the introduction of the Sequoia. Toyota has not yet revealed what the new plant will produce, but some industry experts speculate it could be the mid-size Tacoma pickup, produced in San Antonio from 2010 to 2021, the year the company moved production to the Guanajuato plant in Mexico.”
TOYOTA’S AMERICAN RACE
In short, Toyota’s multi-billion dollar American plan is taking shape to avoid upsetting President Trump: initially the announcements from the Land of the Rising Sun concerned $800 million destined for the Georgetown plant in Kentucky to increase production capacity of the Camry sedan and the RAV4 crossover and another $200 million invested in the Princeton plant in Indiana to expand production of the Grand Highlander SUV.
With Project Orca, therefore, the total stake for the moment reaches $3 billion. Toyota thus confirms itself as the Japanese automotive group most attentive to satisfying Trumpian dictates. After all, it did not escape Cnbc that a few weeks ago the president of the Japanese group Akio Toyoda (in the photo) even wore the red “Maga” cap, acronym of the Make America Great Again movement that brought Trump back to the White House.
TARIFFS AS A BURDEN
After all, customs duties have weighed heavily on the Asian manufacturer’s accounts. Toyota has estimated that US tariffs will cost 1.4 trillion yen in the year ended last April 1 (and it is no better for other Japanese brands), so to avoid losing a fundamental market for its SUVs and pickups the Land of the Rising Sun brand is forced to invest increasingly massively in the United States.
