Bringing Tacomas to Texas: Inside Toyota's $3.6bn Investment

Toyota Motor North America has announced a US$3.6bn investment in its San Antonio, Texas plant. 

This investment will be used for a new assembly line, increasing the plant's annual production capacity by around 150,000 units. 

It will also allow for some production of the Tacoma mid-size pickup to be moved to Texas and create more than 2,000 jobs, Toyota says.

Ted Ogawa, President and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, explains: “This investment reflects our confidence in the people of Texas, our commitment to American manufacturing and our shared vision for innovation, opportunity and long-term economic growth. Together, we're building the next chapter of Toyota's manufacturing legacy in America.”

Manufacturing in Texas

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says: "This Texas-sized investment reflects the strength of our workforce and the unmatched business advantages found only in our state.

"This expansion will deliver economic opportunities to generations of San Antonio families and further cement Texas as the premier destination for world-class advanced manufacturing."

The Office of the Texas Governor says that a Texas Enterprise Fund grant of US$20m and a US$50,000 Veteran Created Job Bonus have been extended to the company, alongside being a qualified project under its Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation programme. 

General Motors, Tesla and Peterbilt also manufacture in the state, creating vehicles primarily for the US market. 

US Senator Ted Cruz says: "Texas leads the nation because we believe in free enterprise, low taxes and fewer government barriers to job creators."

He describes Toyota's new investment as "another powerful vote of confidence in our state’s workers and pro-growth policies".

Tacoma production

Since 2021, Toyota's Tacoma pickup trucks have been produced exclusively in Mexico. 

Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Baja California has been assembling the vehicles since 2005 and Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Guanajuato began Tacoma production in late 2019.

The new investment will see Tacomas move from the Baja plant to San Antonio. 

These vehicles are primarily tailored to and sold in North America, where pickups are often used as personal vehicles.

Toyota's 2025 sales report shows demand for Tacomas in the US reached a record high, with 274,638 sold. 

Toyota's Texas plant

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas is a 2.2 million square foot factory that first began production in 2006.

A new vehicle is completed at the site nearly every 60 seconds, with 197,506 produced in 2025. 

The plant now also supplies rear axles for the Tundra, Sequoia and Tacoma.

In addition to the current assembly line, there are more than 20 suppliers on the site that Toyota says employ an additional 5,600 people. 

In 2021, six autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) were introduced to the plant to help automate simple, repetitive tasks like delivering trays lineside. 

Today, Toyota says the plant has more than 120 of these units and even more to come. 

The new assembly line is set to cover 2.5 million square feet, bringing the San Antonio facility's total size to more than five million square feet.