Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it plans to build pickup trucks and possibly SUVs at a new plant in Mexico, a move that follows threats by U. S. President Do
MEXICO CITY – Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it plans to build pickup trucks and possibly SUVs at a new plant in Mexico, a move that follows threats by U. S. President Donald Trump to penalize the company if it builds small cars south of the border.
Toyota initially planned to produce Corolla sedans at the plant it is building in the central state of Guanajuato but will now shift production of the small cars and a new Mazda SUV crossover to a new assembly plant planned for the United States.
Trump threatened in January to impose a hefty fee on the world’s largest automaker if it built Corollas for the U. S. market in Mexico.
Toyota de Mexico spokesman Luis Lozano said the global automaker will study producing SUVs in Guanajuato, in addition to the Tacoma truck model.
“We’ re going to concentrate only on pickups at the beginning and are studying the potential for SUVs in the future, ” he said.
