Two Japanese carmakers won plaudits from President Trump yesterday as they unveiled plans to build a $1.6 billion factory in the United States.
Toyota and Mazda said that together they would build 300,000 vehicles a year at the plant, which would create 4,000 jobs. They also will make electric vehicles to compete with Tesla, Google and other technology companies.
Mr Trump attacked Toyota at the start of the year when it said that it would build a factory in Mexico to make its Corolla model for the American market. He tweeted: “NO WAY! Build plant in US or pay big border tax.”
Yesterday Mr Trump praised the new factory as “a great investment in American manufacturing”.
However, Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, said that the decision to open the plant in the US had nothing to do with Mr Trump. Indeed, while Toyota builds its American factory with Mazda, it will increase production of its Tacoma pick-up truck in Mexico, nearly doubling output to 400,000 a year. Most of these vehicles are destined for the US.
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The location of the new factory, scheduled for 2021, was not disclosed. Half of its output will be a new Mazda crossover and the other half Toyota Corollas. The majority will be sold in the US.
Mr Toyoda, grandson of Toyota’s founder, said: “There will be new rivals appearing — Apple, Google — these are [information technology] companies, we also need to compete with them. What’s different from the past is that there are no nautical charts for us to follow. It’s without precedent.”
Toyota will take a 5 per cent stake in Mazda worth about 54 billion yen (£375 million). Mazda will buy the same value of Toyota, giving it a 0.25 per cent stake.
Masamichi Kogai, president and chief executive of Mazda, said: “Nothing would please me more than if, through this alliance, we can help to energise the auto industry.”
